New Design Method for Spring

Kazuo Kobayashi
Information Administration
and Engineering Support Center,
Balancers
Kashiwa Operations Group,
Using the conservation of energy and balance conditions, it is shown that the shape of the
Hitachi Medical Corporation,
pulley on the spring side of a spring balancer takes on a special spiral shape for the case
2-1, Shintoyofuta,
of a fixed pulley on the weight side. Conversely, it is shown that the shape of the pulley on
Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-0804 Japan
the weight side takes on an involute shape for a fixed pulley on the spring side. It is also
shown that design work is simplified by expressing the spring design equation as a
maximum potential energy function. 关DOI: 10.1115/1.1416480兴

1 Introduction
A widely used method of balancing is to connect two weights
by a rope and to balance them out in the direction of gravity via a
pulley. This is a gravity balance system and a mechanism that
embodies this system is called a gravity balancer. In this system,
moving one weight in the direction of gravity causes the other
weight to move in the opposite direction so that the center of
gravity of the entire system does not change. As a result, the force
required to move the weight in the direction of gravity consists
only of inertia force and frictional force and does not include
gravitational force.
We can also consider a method by which a weight is balanced
by the force of a spring through a rope and special pulley. In this
case, moving the weight in the direction of gravity requires that its
decrease in potential energy be stored as spring elastic energy. In
addition, while the force required to move the weight in this case
also consists of only inertia force and frictional force, their prop-
erties are quite different from those of a gravity balancer. The
above constitutes a spring balance system, and a mechanism that
embodies this system is called a spring balancer.
This paper explains the basic principle behind the spring bal-
ancer, describes an accurate and efficient design method for spring
balancers, and presents equations of balance condition.
It is mentioned here that a patent related to this spring balancer
system was applied for in Japan by Siemens A. G. in 1926 关1兴. In
short, the contents of this patent describe a mechanism in which
the moment of the spring’s force and the moment of the weight
pulley on the weight side and a spiral pulley on the spring side,
while type 共c兲 features a spiral pulley on both the weight side and
the spring side.
2.2 Examination of Type „b… Spring Balancer. We first
examine pulley shape and balance condition for the type 共b兲
spring balancer. Now, the amount by which a spring is stretched is
proportional to the load on the spring. To balance spring tension
共here we consider a tension spring兲 against the weight, the mo-
ments created by both about the center axis of rotation ‘0’ must be
equal in the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.
Letting r 0 关 m 兴 be the radius of the fixed pulley on the weight
side, W 关 N 兴 the weight, r 关 m 兴 the r coordinate of the contact point
between the spring-side pulley and the rope, x 关 m 兴 the stretch of
the spring, and k 关 N/m 兴 the spring constant, and assuming that the
spring-side rope and weight-side rope are always parallel to the ␦
axis, we get the following equation.
kxr⫽Wr 0 (1)
Next, knowing that the energy stored in the spring is equivalent
to the decrease in potential energy of the weight, and letting
␪关rad兴 be the rotation angle of the pulleys in a balanced state and
x 0 关 m 兴 the minimum value of spring elongation 共at ␪ ⫽0兲, the
following equation holds.
冕 x0
x
kx•dx⫽
k 2 2
2
共 x ⫺x 0 兲 ⫽Wr 0 ␪ (2)

about the pulley axis are equivalent. They also describe that the Because x⭓0, the relationship between r and ␪ becomes as fol-
pulley that winds the rope takes on the shape of an Archimedes lows from Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲.

冉 冊
spiral curve. This patent does not describe, however, the design
⫺1/2
method presented in this paper. Wr 0 2Wr 0
As far as the author knows, there are no published papers on the r⫽ ␪ ⫹x 20 (3)
k k
spring balancer except Ref. 关2兴. Sections 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, and 3.2
concerning type 共b兲 spring balancer are extracted from that paper. On the other hand, if we let ␦ 关 m 兴 be the ␦ coordinate of the
All other sections are original material. contact point between the spring-side pulley and the rope, then a
relationship must exist between ␦ and ␪. Figure 3 shows the rela-
tionship between the rope and the spring-side pulley.
2 Basic Principle of Spring Balancers
2.1 Types of Spring Balancers. In general, spring balanc-
ers 共mechanisms that balance a weight against spring tension us-
ing a pulley兲 can be classified into the three types shown in Fig. 1.
In the figure, all of these types correspond to a method that
balances the moments caused by spring tension and the load of the
weight about the center axis of rotation. In type 共a兲, an amount of
spring elongation is wound up by a pulley of fixed radius 共called
a fixed pulley兲 through a rope, and the weight is rewound by a
pulley whose radius of curvature changes 共called a spiral pulley兲
also through a rope. On the other hand, type 共b兲 features a fixed

Contributed by the Design Automation Committee for publication in the JOUR-

NAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received August 1999. Associate Editor:
H. Lankarani. Fig. 1 Classification of Spring Balancer

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 ⳵f
⳵␪0
⫽⫺
Wr 0
k 冉 冊冉 2
2Wr 0
k
␪⫺
2Wr 0
k
␪ 0 ⫹x 0 2 冊 ⫺3/2
cos ␪ 0

⫹ 冉 冊冉
Wr 0
k
2Wr 0
k
␪⫺
2Wr 0
k
␪ 0 ⫹x 0 2 冊 ⫺1/2
sin ␪ 0

⳵␦共 ␪⫺␪0兲
⫹ sin ␪ 0 ⫹ ␦ 共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲 cos ␪ 0 (6)
⳵␪0

冉 冊
⳵f
⳵␪0 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫽⫺ 冉 冊冉Wr 0
k
2
2Wr 0
k
␪ ⫹x 0 2 冊 ⫺3/2
⫹ ␦ 共 ␪ 兲 ⫽0 (5’)

The following equation can now be derived.

␦共 ␪ 兲⫽ 冉 冊冉
Wr 0
k
2
2Wr 0
k
␪ ⫹x 0 2 冊 ⫺3/2
(7)

Next, given that the spiral pulley represented by Eqs. 共3兲 and
共7兲 rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ , spring elongation S must turn out
to be x⫺x 0 . This is confirmed in the following discussion.
First, for a rotation of the spiral pulley from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪, we
determine the length of that portion of the wound rope in contact
with the spiral curve.
Fig. 2 Principle of Spring Balancer In Fig. 4, the length from rotation-center 0 to contact point P is
denoted by R( ␪ , ␾ ), and the angle formed between R and the r
axis is denoted by ␾.
Now, considering angle ␪ ⬘ for which ␪ ⬘ ⫽ ␪ ⫺ ␾ , small angle
d ␪ ⬘ expresses the angle formed between rotation-center 0 and the
portion of the rope that has come into contact with the spiral curve
after the pulley rotates through small rotation angle d ␪ .
The length of the small arc segment traced out by contact point
P by small angle d ␪ ⬘ is R( ␪ , ␾ )d ␪ ⬘ . Accordingly, the length of
the small segment of rope in contact with the spiral curve at this
time is (1/cos ␾)•R(␪,␾)d␪⬘.
When the spiral pulley, therefore, rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪, the
length of that part of the wound rope in contact with the spiral
curve can be calculated from the following equation.

L⫽ 冕 ␪⫺␾共 ␪ 兲

⫺␾共 0 兲
R 共 ␪ , ␾ 兲 •d ␪ ⬘
cos ␾
(8)

In addition, because
Fig. 3 Relation between rope and spiral pulley d ␪ ⬘ ⫽d ␪ ⫺d ␾ , R 共 ␪ , ␾ 兲 cos ␾ ⫽r
the following equation can be derived.

In the figure, we let r ⬘ and ␦ ⬘ signify a rotation of the r and ␦

axes about center 0 by an angle of ␪ 0 . Considering, now, a rope
L⫽ 冕 ␪⫺␾共 ␪ 兲

⫺␾共 0 兲
rd ␪ ⬘
cos2 ␾
⫽ 冕 0
␪ rd ␪
cos2 ␾
⫺ 冕 ␾共 ␪ 兲 rd ␾
␾ 共 0 兲 cos ␾
2 (8’)

parallel to the ␦ ⬘ coordinate axis, the r ⬘ and ␦ ⬘ coordinates of The following relations also hold.
contact point P ⬘ between this rope and the spiral pulley can be
expressed as r( ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 ) and ␦ ( ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 ), respectively.
Here, if r coordinate r( ␪ ) of contact point P between rope and
pulley at ␪ never becomes larger than the r coordinate of the
projection of contact point P ⬘ on the r coordinate axis, point P
cannot be said to be the contact point with the spring-side rope at
␪.
Now, letting f be the difference between the r coordinates of
contact points P and P ⬘ , f can be expressed by the following
equation.

f ⫽r 共 ␪ 兲 ⫺ 兵 r 共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲 cos ␪ 0 ⫺ ␦ 共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲 sin ␪ 0 其 (4)

The function f must have a minimum value at ␪ 0 ⫽0 for P to be a
contact point. The following equation therefore holds.

冉 冊
⳵f
⳵␪0 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫽0 (5)

Consequently, from Eqs. 共3兲, 共4兲, and 共5兲, we get the following. Fig. 4 Relation between rope and spiral pulley

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 ␦ A
tan ␾ ⫽ ⫽ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 ⫺1 (9)
r 2
Here,
2Wr 0
A⬅ (10)
k
The following equation can be derived from Eq. 共9兲.
A2
d ␾ ⫽⫺ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 20 兲 ⫺2 cos2 ␾ d ␪ (11) Fig. 6 Relation between ␪ and r, ␦„␪…
2
The second term in Eq. 共8兲⬘ then becomes as follows.

⫺ 冕 rd ␾
␾共 ␪ 兲

␾ 共 0 兲 cos ␾
2 ⫽
A3
4 冕 0
␪
共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 ⫺5/2d ␪ ⫽⫺
A2
6
共 A ␪ ⫹x 20 兲 ⫺3/2 The above confirms that spring elongation can be represented
by Eq. 共15兲 when the spiral pulley expressed by Eqs. 共3兲 and 共7兲
rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ .
A 2 ⫺3
⫹ x (12) Figure 5 and 6 shows examples of design values based on the
6 0 relationships between ␪ and Eqs. 共3兲, 共7兲, 共14兲, and 共15兲 and
In addition, the first term in Eq. 共8兲⬘ becomes as follows. ⫺ ␦ ( ␪ )⫹ ␦ (0).
It was also found that the curve represented by Eqs. 共3兲 and 共7兲
冕 0
␪ rd ␪
cos2 ␾
⫽ 冕
0
␪
rd ␪ ⫹ 冕 0
␪
tan2 ␾ rd ␪ ⫽ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 1/2⫺x 0
is a spiral-shaped curve not coming under any category of known
planar curves in mathematics 共Archimedes’, Bernouli’s, logarith-
mic, equiangular, hyperbolic, and Cornu’s spirals兲 关3兴.
A2 A 2 ⫺3
⫺ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 ⫺3/2⫹ x (13) 2.3 Examination of Type „a… Spring Balancer. This sec-
12 12 0 tion examines pulley shape and balance condition for the type 共a兲
The following equation can therefore be established. spring balancer. Now, to balance spring tension against the
weight, the value of the moments created by both about the center
A2 A 2 ⫺3 axis of pulley rotation ‘0’ in Fig. 7 must be equal.
L⫽ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 1/2⫺x 0 ⫺ 共 A ␪ ⫹x 0 2 兲 ⫺3/2⫹ x ⫽x⫺x 0 Letting r 2 关 m 兴 be the radius of the fixed pulley on the spring
4 4 0
side, W 关 N 兴 the weight, r 1 关 m 兴 the r 1 coordinate of the contact
⫺␦共 ␪ 兲⫹␦共 0 兲 (14) point between the weight-side pulley and the rope, x 关 m 兴 the
stretch of the spring, and k 关 N/m 兴 the spring constant, and assum-
Here, x⫺x 0 is the length of elongation in the stretched spring
ing that the weight-side rope and spring-side rope are always par-
when the spiral pulley rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪, and ⫺ ␦ ( ␪ )
allel to the ␦ axis, we get the following equation.
⫹ ␦ (0) is the difference in ␦ coordinates of the contact points at
␪ ⫽0 and ␪ ⫽ ␪ . kx•r 2 ⫽Wr 1 (16)
When the spiral pulley rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ , length S of
elongation in the stretched spring must result from subtracting the Next, letting ␪ 关 rad 兴 be the rotation angle of the pulleys and
difference between ␦ coordinate ␦共0兲 of the contact point at ␪ x 0 关 m 兴 the minimum value of spring elongation 共at ␪ ⫽0兲, the
⫽0 and ␦ coordinate ␦共␪兲 of the contact point at ␪ ⫽ ␪ from Eq. following equation can be established from geometrical condi-
共14兲. tions.
x⫺x 0 ⫽r 2 ␪ (17)
S⫽L⫺ 兵 ␦ 共 0 兲 ⫺ ␦ 共 ␪ 兲 其 ⫽x 共 ␪ 兲 ⫺x 0 (15)
The following equation can now be obtained from Eqs. 共16兲 and
Equation 共15兲 satisfies this condition.
共17兲.

Fig. 5 Relation between ␪ and L, S, À ␦ „ ␪ …¿ ␦ „0… Fig. 7 Principle of Spring Balancer„a…

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 We then obtain the following equation from Eqs. 共18兲, 共19兲, and
共20兲.

冉 冊
⳵f1
⳵␪0 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫽⫺
kr 22
W
⫹ ␦ 共 ␪ 兲 ⫽0 (20’)

The following equation is now derived.

kr 2 2
␦共 ␪ 兲⫽ (21)
W
In short, the curve expressed by Eqs. 共18兲 and 共21兲 is an invo-
lute curve having a base circle radius of kr 22 /W 关4兴.
Next, on rotating the involute-shaped pulley expressed by Eqs.
共18兲 and 共21兲 from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ , the distance moved by the
weight must be s. This is confirmed as follows by a method simi-
lar to that of type 共b兲 spring balancer.
When rotating the pulley in Fig. 9 from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ , the
Fig. 8 Relation between rope and spiral pulley length L of that part of the wound rope in contact with the invo-
lute curve can be calculated by Eq. 共8兲.
If calculating L from Eqs. 共18兲 and 共21兲, the following equation
kr 2 2 kr 2 is obtained.

冕
r 1⫽ ␪⫹ x (18) ␪
W W 0 1 kr 2 2 2 kr 2
L⫽ r 1 •d ␪ ⫽ ␪ ⫹ x ␪ (22)
In addition, letting ␦ 关 m 兴 be the ␦ coordinate of the contact 0 2 W W 0
point between the weight-side pulley and the rope, we assume ␦ to
be a function of ␪ as well. Equation 共22兲 can also be expressed as follows.
Figure 8 shows the relationship between the rope and the 1
weight-side pulley. In the figure, we let r 1⬘ and ␦ ⬘ signify a rota- L⫽ 兵 r 共 ␪ 兲 ⫹r 1 共 0 兲 其 ␪ ⫽r̄ 1 ␪ (23)
2 1
tion of the r 1 and ␦ axes about center 0 by an angle of ␪ 0 .
Considering, now, a rope parallel to the ␦ ⬘ coordinate axis, the r ⬘1 Here, r 1 is the average value between r 1 (0) and r 1 ( ␪ ). The
and ␦ ⬘ coordinates of contact point P ⬘ between this rope and the following equation can be derived from Eqs. 共17兲 and 共18兲.
spiral pulley can be expressed as r 1 ( ␪ ⫹ ␪ 0 ) and ␦ ( ␪ ⫹ ␪ 0 ), re-
spectively. x⫺x 0 1 1
Wr̄ 1 ␪ ⫽Wr̄ 1 ⫽ 共 kr 2 ␪ ⫹2kx 0 兲共 x⫺x 0 兲 ⫻ ⫽ k 共 x 2 ⫺x 0 2 兲
Here, if r 1 coordinate r 1 ( ␪ ) of contact point P between rope r2 2 2
and pulley at ␪ never becomes larger than the r 1 coordinate of the
⫽Ws (24)
projection of contact point P ⬘ on the r 1 coordinate axis, point P
cannot be said to be the contact point with the weight-side rope at Equation 共24兲 indicates that the decrease in potential energy is
␪. stored as spring elastic energy. The following relation therefore
Now, letting f 1 be the difference between the r 1 coordinates of holds.
contact points P and P ⬘ , f 1 can be expressed by the following
equation. L⫽s (25)

f 1 ⫽r 1 共 ␪ 兲 ⫺ 兵 r 1 共 ␪ ⫹ ␪ 0 兲 cos ␪ 0 ⫺ ␦ 共 ␪ ⫹ ␪ 0 兲 sin ␪ 0 其 (19) Equation 共25兲 confirms that the length of the rope separated
from the involute-shaped pulley after a rotation from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪
The function f 1 must have a minimum value at ␪ 0 ⫽0 for P to ⫽ ␪ is equivalent to the distance moved by the weight in the
be a contact point. Equation 共20兲 therefore holds. direction of gravity.

冉 冊
⳵f1
⳵␪0 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫽0 (20)
2.4 Examination of Type „c… Spring Balancer. We now
examine pulley shape and balance condition for the type 共c兲 spring
balancer. The basic principle of this type of spring balancer is
shown in Fig. 10.
Now, the r 1 coordinate of the contact point between the rope
and weight-side pulley can be expressed as an involute with a
base circle radius of a 关 m 兴 as shown by the following equation.
r 1 ⫽a ␪ ⫹b (26)
Here, b 关 m 兴 is a constant and ␪ 关 rad 兴 is the rotation angle of the
pulleys. In addition, we let r 2 关 m 兴 be the r 2 coordinate of the
contact point between the spring-side pulley and the rope, W 关 N 兴
the weight, x 关 m 兴 the stretch of the spring, and k 关 N/m 兴 the spring
constant, and assume that the weight-side rope and spring-side
rope are always parallel to the ␦ axis. The balance of moments and
conservation of energy in this spring balancer can therefore be
expressed by the following equations.
Wўr 1 ⫽kx•r 2 (27)

Fig. 9 Relation between rope and spiral pulley

W 冕0
␪
r 1d ␪ ⫽ 冕 x

x0
kx•d ␪ (28)

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 ⫺ 冉 ⳵ r 2共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲
⳵␪0 冊 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫹ ␦ 共 ␪ 兲 ⫽0

Then, from Eq. 共29兲, the following equation can be obtained.

␦ 共 ␪ 兲 ⫽⫺
W W
k
a
k再 冉
a ␪ 2⫹
2b
a
␪ ⫹x 0 2 冊 冎 ⫺1/2

⫹ 冉冊
W
k
2
共 a ␪ ⫹b 兲 2 再 冉 冊 冎
W
k
a ␪ 2⫹
2b
a
␪ ⫹x 0 2
⫺3/2
(32)

The following discussion confirms that spring elongation S be-

Fig. 10 Principle of Spring Balancer„c…
comes x⫺x 0 when the spiral pulley expressed by Eqs. 共29兲 and
共32兲 rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ .
In Fig. 11, the length L of that part of the wound rope in contact
with the spiral curve when rotating the pulley from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪
⫽ ␪ can be expressed by Eq. 共8兲 in the same manner as type 共b兲
spring balancer. If L is then calculated from Eqs. 共29兲 and 共32兲,
Eq. 共14兲 can be obtained. Accordingly, S can be expressed by Eq.
共15兲.
It is therefore confirmed that spring elongation is represented
by Eq. 共15兲 when the spiral pulley expressed by Eqs. 共29兲 and 共32兲
rotates from ␪ ⫽0 to ␪ ⫽ ␪ .
It was also found that the curve represented by Eqs. 共29兲 and
共32兲 is a spiral-shaped curve not coming under any category of
known planar curves in mathematics 关3兴.

3 Spring and Pulley Design Methods

3.1 Spring Design. The volume of a spring can be deter-
mined by maximum used energy. In the case of a spring balancer,
this would be maximum potential energy due to the weight. The
relationship between spring elongation and tension is shown in
Fig. 12. The shaded area represents used energy.
We consider the case in which the ratio between minimum and
maximum elongation values x 0 and x max in a balanced state is 1:2.
Here, the ratio between actually used elastic energy and maximum
elastic energy of the spring can be expressed by the following
equation.

Fig. 11 Relation between rope and spiral pulley 1 1 2

2
k 共 x max ⫺x 0 2 兲 : kx max ⫽3:4 (33)
2 2
In other words, a situation in which the maximum elastic en-

冉 冊
ergy of the spring is 4/3 the maximum potential energy is consid-
1 2 1 ered favorable. Letting maximum elastic energy be Us and maxi-
W a ␪ ⫹b ␪ ⫽ k 共 x 2 ⫺x 0 2 兲 (28’) mum movement of weight W in the direction of gravity be s, the
2 2
following relationship holds.
Then, from Eqs. 共26兲, 共27兲, and 共28兲⬘, r 2 can be expressed by
the following equation. 4 4
Us⫽ U⫽ Ws (34)

再 冉 冊 冎 ⫺1/2 3 3
W W 2b
r 2 ⫽ 共 a ␪ ⫹b 兲 a ␪ 2⫹ ␪ ⫹x 0 2 (29) The following are commonly used formulas in spring design.
k k a
In addition, if we let ␦ 关 m 兴 be the ␦ coordinate of the contact ␲ D 2␶
␦ s⫽ (35)
point between the spring-side pulley and the rope, we can con- dG
sider ␦ to be a function of ␪ as well.
We now determine ␦共␪兲 by a method similar to that of type 共b兲
spring balancer. In Fig. 10, we let r ⬘2 and ␦ ⬘ signify a rotation of
the r 2 and ␦ axes about center 0 by an angle of ␪ 0 . Letting f 2 be
the difference between the r 2 coordinates of contact points P and
P ⬘ , f 2 can be expressed by the following equation.
f 2 ⫽r 2 共 ␪ 兲 ⫺ 兵 r 2 共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲 cos ␪ 0 ⫺ ␦ 共 ␪ ⫺ ␪ 0 兲 sin ␪ 0 其 (30)
The function f 2 must have a minimum value at ␪ ⫽0 for P to be
a contact point. In other words, the following equation holds.

冉 冊
⳵f2
⳵␪0 ␪ 0 ⫽0
⫽0 (31)

From Eqs. 共30兲 and 共31兲, we get the following. Fig. 12 Relation between elongation and tension of Spring

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 Gd 4 ⫽0.01 m, D⫽0.0905 m (n⫽9.05), and obtain the following val-
k⫽ (36) ues: N⫽114, Nd⫽1.14 m, mNd⫽1.57 m, kmNd⫽1822 N, and
8D 3 N
k⫽1161 N/m.
␶2 It is pointed out here that in the conventional design method,
Us⫽ V (37) values that satisfy maximum elongation and maximum tension are
4G
determined by repeated calculations of Eqs. 共35兲 and 共36兲.
␶2 3.2 Pulley Design and Balance Conditions. Here, for the
u s⫽ (38)
4G case in which the ratio between minimum and maximum elonga-
tion values x 0 and x max in a balanced state is 1:2 共Fig. 12兲, we
Here, ␦ s is the amount of deflection in one wind, D is the center
examine a pulley design method and balance condition for each
diameter of the spring, d is the diameter of spring wire, ␶ is maxi-
type of spring balancer.
mum torsional stress, G is rigidity, k is spring constant, N is num-
Letting the minimum and maximum values of r for the spiral
ber of spring windings, V is spring volume, and u s is energy per
pulley of type 共b兲 be r min and r max , the following relationship
unit volume.
holds from Eq. 共1兲.
Now, letting ␦ s /d⬅m and D/d⬅n, we substitute these in Eq.
共35兲 to give us the following relationship. r max⫽2r min (48)
␲␶ 2 Here, letting the maximum value of ␪ be ␪ max , the following
m⫽ n (39)
G equation can be established from Eq. 共2兲.
Furthermore, for tight winding, spring volume can be approxi- 3
mated as follows. Wr 0 ␪ max⫽ kx 0 2 (49)
2

V⫽ ␲ 冉冊 冉冊
d
2
2
⫻2 ␲
D
2
N (40) The left side of Eq. 共49兲 denotes the maximum value of poten-
tial energy, and the right side denotes the energy used by the
spring 共shaded area of Fig. 12兲.
From this, the number of windings can be expressed as follows.
Considering, therefore, rope factor of safety and the like, r 0 ,
4V ␪ max , r, and ␦ are determined from Eqs. 共3兲, 共7兲, 共48兲, and 共49兲.
N⫽
␲ 2d 3n
(41) If the following holds, however, in Eqs. 共3兲 and 共7兲, the shape
of the pulley does not change.
Now, from Eqs. 共34兲 and 共37兲, spring volume V can be expressed
by the following equation. Wr 0
⫽constant (50)
k
16GWs
V⫽ (42) Here, even if W, r 0 , or k changes within the range that Eq. 共50兲
3␶2
is satisfied, a balanced condition is maintained. Equation 共50兲 is
Equation 共42兲 indicates that spring volume V is proportional to called the balance condition for type 共b兲 spring balancer.
maximum potential energy Ws. In conventional spiral-pulley design, it is assumed that r lies on
The following is now derived from Eqs. 共41兲 and 共42兲. the r coordinate axis ( ␦ ⫽0), which means that in a strict sense, a
64GWs balanced condition is not maintained.
N⫽ (43) Up to now, Eq. 共7兲 had not been explained in relation to ␦.
3 ␲ 2 nd 3 ␶ 2 In type 共a兲 spring balancer, r 2 , ␪ max ,r1 ,␦ are determined from
The natural length of the spring is therefore expressed as follows. Eq. 共17兲 and involute curve Eqs. 共18兲 and 共21兲.
The balance condition in this case can be expressed by the
64GWs following from Eqs. 共18兲 and 共21兲.
Nd⫽ (44)
3 ␲ 2 nd 2 ␶ 2
kr 2 2
Maximum elongation, moreover, is expressed by the following ⫽constant (51)
W
equation.
In conventional pulley design, the weight-side pulley is as-
64nWs sumed to have the shape of an Archimedes spiral ( ␦ ⫽0). In a
mNd⫽ (45)
3 ␲ d 2␶ strict sense, therefore, a balanced condition is not maintained here
as well. Up to now, base circle radius had not been considered as
The spring constant, meanwhile, can be expressed as follows. a ␦ involute curve.
Gd In type 共c兲 spring balancer, r 1 , ␪ max ,r2 ,␦ are determined from
k⫽ (46) Eqs. 共26兲, 共28兲⬘, 共29兲, and 共32兲. When using spring elastic energy
8n 3 N in the manner shown in Fig. 12, the following relationship holds
Maximum tension is therefore expressed as follows. among r 1 ( ␪ max),r1(0),r2(0),r2(␪max).

8GWs r 1 共 ␪ max兲 r 2共 0 兲
kmNd⫽ (47) ⫽ ⫽& (52)
3n 2 ␲ dN ␶ r 1共 0 兲 r 2 共 ␪ max兲
Each of design equations 共43), (44兲, 共45兲, and 共47兲 is therefore Furthermore, because r(0)/r( ␪ max)⫽2 from Eqs. 共3兲 and 共48兲
capable of being expressed as a function of maximum potential in type 共b兲 spring balancer and r 1 ( ␪ max)/r1(0)⫽2 from Eqs. 共16兲
energy Ws. and 共18兲 in type 共a兲, the size of the spiral pulley in type 共c兲 can be
By therefore using the above equations and deciding on a value about half way between that of types 共a兲 and 共b兲.
for Ws, spring values can be set in an easier and more accurate The balance condition equation for type 共c兲 spring balancer can
manner. be expressed as follows from Eqs. 共29兲 and 共32兲.
Now, as a design example, we let W⫽716 N, s⫽1.5 m, G
⫽7.84⫻1010 N/m2, and ␶ ⫽42⫻107 N/m2, and get Eqs. 共43兲, W
⫽constant (53)
共44兲, 共45兲, 共46兲 and 共47兲, containing only d and n. Then, let d k

Journal of Mechanical Design DECEMBER 2001, Vol. 123 Õ 499

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 In conventional pulley design, ␦ ⫽0 is assumed on both the
weight side and spring side, which means that in a strict sense, a
balanced condition is not maintained.
Now, for type 共c兲, with weight W⫽716N, maximum moving
distance s⫽1.5m, spring weight W⬘ ⫽195N, maximum spring
tension kxmax⫽1822N, minimum spring tension kx0 ⫽911N,
spring constant k⫽1161N/m, minimum spring elongation x0
⫽0.785m, and maximum pulley rotation angle ␪ max⫽6␲, we
solve for r1, ␦ contact-point coordinates for the rope and weight-
side pulley and r2, ␦ contact-point coordinates for the rope and
spring-side pulley by Eqs. 共26兲, 共28兲⬘, 共29兲, and 共32兲, and obtain
the following 共maximum and minimum values only兲.
r 1 (⫻10⫺3 m) ␦ (⫻10⫺3 m) r 2 (⫻10⫺3 m) ␦ (⫻10⫺3 m)
Max. 93.0 1.4 52.0 2.3
Min. 66.0 1.4 37.0 0.3
4 Conclusion
This paper has examined the basic principles and accurate and
efficient design methods for three types of spring balancers. The
following results were obtained by this study.
1 For type 共b兲 spring balancer, the shape of the spring-side
pulley obtained from balance and energy conservation conditions
was shown to be a special spiral curve for which the r, ␦ coordi-
nates of the rope contact point can be expressed by Eqs. 共3兲 and
共7兲. This curve corresponds to no known mathematical spiral
curves.
2 The shape of the weight-side pulley in type 共a兲 spring bal-
ancer was shown to be an involute curve having a base circle
radius of kr 22 /W.
500 Õ Vol. 123, DECEMBER 2001
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3 By applying an involute curve to the weight-side pulley of
type 共c兲 spring balancer, the spring-side pulley was shown to be a
special spiral curve expressed by Eqs. 共29兲 and 共32兲. This curve as
well corresponds to no known mathematical spiral curves.
4 An expression stating that spring volume V is proportional to
maximum potential energy Ws of the weight (V⬀Ws) was de-
rived, and the design equation for each type of spring was ex-
pressed as a function of Ws. This makes the design of springs used
in spring balancers more accurate and efficient.
5 A pulley design equation was derived for each type of spring
balancer with respective balance conditions expressed by Eqs.
共50兲, 共51兲, and 共53兲. It was also shown that the size of the spiral
pulley in type 共c兲 spring balancer could be about halfway between
that of types 共a兲 and 共b兲.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Pro-
fessor Norihiko Adachi of Kyoto University for his valuable sug-
gestions in the preparation of this paper. He would also like to
extend his deep appreciation to Vice-president Shizuo Shima and
to all concerned at Hitachi Medical Corporation for their gracious
assistance and guidance throughout the course of this research.
References
关1兴 Patent No. 76426, 1926, Japan 共in Japanese兲
关2兴 Kobayashi, K., 1998, ‘‘New Design Method of the Spring Balancer,’’ Trans.
Jpn. Soc. Mech. Eng., Ser. C, 64–622, Ser. C, pp. 139–146 共in Japanese兲
关3兴 Mathematics Society of Japan, 1971, Dictionary of Mathematics, 2nd Edition,
442, Iwanami 共in Japanese兲
关4兴 Parker, S., 1984, McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms,
3rd Edition, 158, 839, McGraw-Hill Book Company
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