Tailored steel spring
An obsession with springs
Samuel Suvanto and Tero Lokasaari first met when working on the same team at Wärtsilä, a Finnish company and global leader in innovative technologies for the marine and energy markets. Together they worked on, among other things, new design solutions for isolating massive engines.
Even then Samuel, an experienced Mechanical Engineer, was bothered by the complexity of current spring solutions. He had a vision where the properties provided by a spring – isolation and protection – was an integral part of the structure itself.
Design meets high strength steel
10 years later Samuel and Tero founded Labrys Oy. And after hundreds of simulation trials and thanks to the innate properties of high strength steels they could bring to market the product at the core of their innovative venture: InfiniSpring.
“At university we always advice students to think about using high strength steels. Now we are living as we teach,” says Samuel.
Like any ordinary spring that has gone before it, InfiniSpring isolates sound and vibrations and protects structures from shock. But the likeness stops there.
The design is the product
InfiniSpring is manufactured from a single sheet of high strength steel using laser cutting only. The cut-out design results in high flexibility together with high static load carrying capacity in all directions. This way shock protection, vibration and sound isolation is built into the steel structure itself.
“We can integrate flexibility into the components we already have there – as long as the steel is strong enough,” says Samuel.
InfiniSpring – including manufacturing and surface treatment options – has been patented, tested, and validated for performance and durability. It delivers on every point and, thereby, revolutionizes the spring industry.
A market ripe for disruption
For a very long time the competition has looked exactly the same: Elastomers (rubber-like solids with elastic properties) and coil springs. Rubber pads suffer from poor performance and poor durability. Coil springs can match the properties of InfiniSpring, but they are far from ideal for streamlined production processes.
“Buying springs costs. Managing springs costs. This way the properties you are looking for are integrated into the sheet metal itself”, explains Tero.
InfiniSpring saves material, time and money. It makes the production process more streamlined and more sustainable. At best, the spring design becomes an integral part of the customer’s product.
“We want nothing more than for designers from other companies to incorporate our design in their products themselves,” says Tero.
Their own stroke of genius
InfiniSpring is entirely Tero and Samuel’s own stroke of genius. The design will also work with lesser steel grade qualities, but to get full performance high strength steel is required.
“If you just choose the shape correctly you will have lots of functionality,” says Samuel about his innovation.
Welds and joints always limit the strength and the service life of any steel product, but InfiniSpring has no such weakness. It makes no compromises. It is made through laser cutting and the finished product is as good as – or better than – the high strength steel itself.
A thousand uses
InfiniSpring can be used to isolate and protect rotational machines, vibratory machines, and sensitive equipment. The construction itself is thin and requires little or no space. It can be installed in any mounting and spring size and load carrying capacity increases with the plate thickness. The design is scalable and its applications are endless.
“At this point in time it’s like we are waiting for our customers to start using steel with higher grades,” says Samuel.