Mechanical assembly

Out-of-the-box solutions won't solve all design challenges. Custom mechanical assemblies open new doors. Working with our engineering team, you can leverage computer modeling to define concepts and refine design with each iteration until you've found the perfect solution.

Understanding the benefits

From custom crimps and threaded fittings to midsection attachment points and end terminations, mechanical assemblies enable wire-based products to meet the needs of complicated applications. Our integrated operations and Engineering teams will help you streamline your manufacturing process and find the perfect solution.

 

Typical end uses

When you're designing a custom mechanical assembly, you define the end uses. We've seen our customers put their designs to work in:

  • Articulation devices
  • Laparoscopic or robotic surgery devices
  • Minimally invasive surgical instruments

 

Design specifications

Mechanical assemblies can be as basic as adjusting the ends of cut-to-length strands and cables or as complicated as creating custom terminations and midsection fittings.

When you need HHS® tube, strands, or cables cut to length, we use the following end treatment options to ensure they arrive ready for use.

HHS® tube end treatment options

  • Band weld
  • Face weld
  • Shear cut
  • Square cut

 

Strands and cable end treatment options

If you're trying to find the best strand or cable for your application, you can learn more about different alloys and constructions here. When you need those strands or cables cut to length, we use the following end options to ensure they arrive ready for use.

  • Bead and swage
  • Beaded
  • Encapsulated
  • Fused end
  • Shear cut
  • Square cut

 

Mechanical assembly components

To make choosing the right components for your assembly easier, you'll find information about different fittings below to help you prepare for a conversation with our New Product Development engineering teams.

 

Fittings

Ball and shank fitting

 

 Ball and shank spherical

  • Provides full breaking load of cable
  • Allows for attachments within a spherical pocket
  • Allows cable rotation when load is not significant
  • Shank provides abrasion protection
Ball fitting

  Ball spherical

  • Provides near-breaking load of cable
  • Allows for attachment within a spherical pocket
  • Shank provides abrasion protection and higher breaking load

Clevis fork fitting

   Clevis end

  • Manufactured in a fork or eye configuration
  • Provides attachment point using a cross pin where push and pull may be needed

Cylindrical end fitting

Hexagonal end fitting

   Cylindrical, hexagonal, and square end stop

  • Provides attachment points
  • Offers customized dimensions
Flanged fitting

   Flanged stop

  • Beneficial when cylindrical end stop does not provide enough shoulder
  • Eliminates need for washer to prevent pull-through

   Looped

  • Provides attachment point where loop is secured over a pin

   Puck

  • Flat top and bottom, resembling a hockey puck
  • Tight dimensional tolerances
  • Cylindrical sides offer better fit than ball fittings ground to similar geometry

Radiused square fitting

   Radiused end stop

  • Center with a bore or pocket
  • Offers holding strength to near-breaking load of cable
  • Allows for cable rotation and positioning
Threaded fitting

   Threaded

  • Allows for secure attachment and adjustability
  • Shank and thread diameter customizable
  • Can be used to precisely set tension
  • Adjustable to remove cable slack

 

End treatments

 

   Band weld

  • Circumstantial laser weld applied to a strand or HHS® tube to join filars together, typically followed by an EDM cut for a square end
  • Fuses the outermost layer of filars
  • Multi layer constructions may experience layer shift, a face weld may also be recommended

   Bead & swage

  • Filars are joined together and a beaded dimension is produced
  • Swaging with press of hammer reduces the bead diameter, producing a solid cylindrical section

   Beaded

  • Filars are joined together and a beaded dimension is produced
  • Beads are larger than the diameter of the material

   Bullet nose

  • Rounded end feature that does not exceed the overall material diameter

   Coining

  • Flattening of material to form a flat parallel surface
  • May provide a larger surface for coating adhesion, welding, or identifier point

   Deburr

  • Removal of the sharp edge on the end of a part
  • Provides smooth end needed for sliding and reduced friction

   Encapsulated

  • All filars are melted together, producing a rounded end
  • Individual filars are not visible and treatment prevents fraying

   Face weld

  • Laser welding applied to the end of HHS® tube to join filars
  • Fuses multi layer constructions
  • Often used with a band weld to secure all filar layers

   Fused end

  • Ends are fused by not encapsulated
  • Individual filars may be visible, treatment prevents fraying

   Shear cut

  • Produces filars with jagged ends, ideal if ends are removed or are not critical to further processing
  • Highly efficient for end termination

   Shrink tube

  • A discrete layer of polymer tube
  • Slips over material and when heated, it shrinks
  • Provides a surface to electrically or mechanically isolate a point

   Square cut

  • Achieved with a wire EDM machine that produces a clean straight cut
  • Filars and layers may shift without welding

 

Additional processing capabilities

Our mechanical assemblies can be further customized with additional processing, such as:

  • Coating is available in dieletric or lubricious options, can yield a variety of benefits, from providing electrical insulation to chemical separation or improved lubricity
  • Laser ablation is a non-mechanical process for removing coating from select sections on a wire, meaning you get clean, undamaged wire exposed in just the right places
  • Hypodermic tubing
    • Thin tube to add stiffness and pushability where needed
    • Customizable in size and tensile strenght

We use various techniques to improve the surface quality of our material and ensure that our material is free of any visible debris or foreign particulates. For more information on our cleaning processes, please contact your Fort Wayne Metals representative.

Contact us

Mechanical assembly

Out-of-the-box solutions won't solve all design challenges. Custom mechanical assemblies open new doors. Working with our engineering team, you can leverage computer modeling to define concepts and refine design with each iteration until you've found the perfect solution.

Understanding the benefits

From custom crimps and threaded fittings to midsection attachment points and end terminations, mechanical assemblies enable wire-based products to meet the needs of complicated applications. Our integrated operations and Engineering teams will help you streamline your manufacturing process and find the perfect solution.

 

Typical end uses

When you're designing a custom mechanical assembly, you define the end uses. We've seen our customers put their designs to work in:

  • Articulation devices
  • Laparoscopic or robotic surgery devices
  • Minimally invasive surgical instruments

 

Design specifications

Mechanical assemblies can be as basic as adjusting the ends of cut-to-length strands and cables or as complicated as creating custom terminations and midsection fittings.

When you need HHS® tube, strands, or cables cut to length, we use the following end treatment options to ensure they arrive ready for use.

HHS® tube end treatment options

  • Band weld
  • Face weld
  • Shear cut
  • Square cut

 

Strands and cable end treatment options

If you're trying to find the best strand or cable for your application, you can learn more about different alloys and constructions here. When you need those strands or cables cut to length, we use the following end options to ensure they arrive ready for use.

  • Bead and swage
  • Beaded
  • Encapsulated
  • Fused end
  • Shear cut
  • Square cut

 

Mechanical assembly components

To make choosing the right components for your assembly easier, you'll find information about different fittings below to help you prepare for a conversation with our New Product Development engineering teams.

 

Fittings

Ball and shank fitting

 

 Ball and shank spherical

  • Provides full breaking load of cable
  • Allows for attachments within a spherical pocket
  • Allows cable rotation when load is not significant
  • Shank provides abrasion protection
Ball fitting

  Ball spherical

  • Provides near-breaking load of cable
  • Allows for attachment within a spherical pocket
  • Shank provides abrasion protection and higher breaking load

Clevis fork fitting

   Clevis end

  • Manufactured in a fork or eye configuration
  • Provides attachment point using a cross pin where push and pull may be needed

Cylindrical end fitting

Hexagonal end fitting

   Cylindrical, hexagonal, and square end stop

  • Provides attachment points
  • Offers customized dimensions
Flanged fitting

   Flanged stop

  • Beneficial when cylindrical end stop does not provide enough shoulder
  • Eliminates need for washer to prevent pull-through

   Looped

  • Provides attachment point where loop is secured over a pin

   Puck

  • Flat top and bottom, resembling a hockey puck
  • Tight dimensional tolerances
  • Cylindrical sides offer better fit than ball fittings ground to similar geometry

Radiused square fitting

   Radiused end stop

  • Center with a bore or pocket
  • Offers holding strength to near-breaking load of cable
  • Allows for cable rotation and positioning
Threaded fitting

   Threaded

  • Allows for secure attachment and adjustability
  • Shank and thread diameter customizable
  • Can be used to precisely set tension
  • Adjustable to remove cable slack

 

End treatments

 

   Band weld

  • Circumstantial laser weld applied to a strand or HHS® tube to join filars together, typically followed by an EDM cut for a square end
  • Fuses the outermost layer of filars
  • Multi layer constructions may experience layer shift, a face weld may also be recommended

   Bead & swage

  • Filars are joined together and a beaded dimension is produced
  • Swaging with press of hammer reduces the bead diameter, producing a solid cylindrical section

   Beaded

  • Filars are joined together and a beaded dimension is produced
  • Beads are larger than the diameter of the material

   Bullet nose

  • Rounded end feature that does not exceed the overall material diameter

   Coining

  • Flattening of material to form a flat parallel surface
  • May provide a larger surface for coating adhesion, welding, or identifier point

   Deburr

  • Removal of the sharp edge on the end of a part
  • Provides smooth end needed for sliding and reduced friction

   Encapsulated

  • All filars are melted together, producing a rounded end
  • Individual filars are not visible and treatment prevents fraying

   Face weld

  • Laser welding applied to the end of HHS® tube to join filars
  • Fuses multi layer constructions
  • Often used with a band weld to secure all filar layers

   Fused end

  • Ends are fused by not encapsulated
  • Individual filars may be visible, treatment prevents fraying

   Shear cut

  • Produces filars with jagged ends, ideal if ends are removed or are not critical to further processing
  • Highly efficient for end termination

   Shrink tube

  • A discrete layer of polymer tube
  • Slips over material and when heated, it shrinks
  • Provides a surface to electrically or mechanically isolate a point

   Square cut

  • Achieved with a wire EDM machine that produces a clean straight cut
  • Filars and layers may shift without welding

 

Additional processing capabilities

Our mechanical assemblies can be further customized with additional processing, such as:

  • Coating is available in dieletric or lubricious options, can yield a variety of benefits, from providing electrical insulation to chemical separation or improved lubricity
  • Laser ablation is a non-mechanical process for removing coating from select sections on a wire, meaning you get clean, undamaged wire exposed in just the right places
  • Hypodermic tubing
    • Thin tube to add stiffness and pushability where needed
    • Customizable in size and tensile strenght

We use various techniques to improve the surface quality of our material and ensure that our material is free of any visible debris or foreign particulates. For more information on our cleaning processes, please contact your Fort Wayne Metals representative.

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