When shopping for spring plungers, you may notice that some of them feature a nylon patch. Spring plungers are spring-loaded indexing devices. They feature an internal compression spring that pushes against a nose or ball at the tip.
Spring plungers can position or secure parts in place. When exposed to an acting force, the nose or ball will recede into the spring plunger’s body. At the same time, the internal spring will compress and shrink. Once the force is removed, the spring will revert to its original size, thereby pushing the nose or ball back out. Some spring plungers, however, are designed with a nylon patch.
What Is the Nylon Patch?
To better understand why some spring plungers have a nylon patch, you must familiarize yourself with the patch itself. Nylon, of course, is a synthetic material consisting of petroleum-based polyamides. It’s prized for its unique combination of strength and elasticity, making it a useful material in many everyday goods and products.
The nylon patch is a small band or section of nylon found on a spring plunger’s external threads. It doesn’t cover the entire threaded body. Rather, it typically only covers about one-quarter or less.
Protection From Loosening
The main reason some spring plungers have a nylon patch is to prevent them from loosening. Threaded spring plungers are designed to sit in a threaded hole. As you tighten them in an appropriately sized hole, the nylon patch will compress. This compression action creates an outward-pushing action that’s known as prevailing torque.
The nylon patch is entirely mechanical. It doesn’t involve any adhesives, safety wire or additional parts. Instead, it’s a simple band or section of nylon material.
Do All Spring Plungers Have a Nylon Patch?
Some spring plungers have a nylon patch, whereas others don’t. The nylon patch is exclusive to threaded spring plungers. There are threaded spring plungers, and there are unthreaded spring plungers. Threaded spring plungers feature external threads, whereas unthreaded spring plungers have a smooth body that allows them to be pushed into a hole.
Only threaded spring plungers may feature a nylon patch. The nylon patch works by generating friction to hold the plunger’s external threads to the hole’s internal threads. Unthreaded spring plungers don’t have threads, so they wouldn’t benefit from a nylon patch.
In Conclusion
Some spring plungers have a nylon patch to prevent them from coming loose. As the name suggests, the nylon patch is a small section of nylon material. It creates prevailing torque during installation, which holds the spring plunger in place.