Snapring or circlip extraction from bicycle hub

A circlip (a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "circle" and "clip"), also known as a C-clip, snap ring, or Jesus clip, is a type of

fastener A fastener (US English) or fastening (UK English) is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together. In general, fasteners are used to create non-permanent joints; that is, joints that can be removed or disman ...

or retaining ring that consists of a semi-flexible metal ring with open ends that can be snapped into place into a

machined Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

on a

dowel The dowel is a cylindrical shape made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is long and called a ''dowel rod'', which are often cut into shorter ''dowel pins''. Dowels are commonly used as structural reinforceme ...

pin or other part to permit

rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...

but to prevent axial movement. There are two basic types of circlips: internal (fitted into a bore) and external (fitted over a shaft). Circlips are used to secure pinned connections.

Details

The term "Jesus clip" is a comical reference given to it due to its tendency to come loose and launch itself at high speed while removing or installing it, often leading to the remark "Oh Jesus, where did it go?"

E-clip

Common examples include e-clips (e-rings) and the snap ring (both internal and external) or circlip. These general types of fasteners are sized to provide an interference fit onto (or into, in the case of an internal fastener) a groove or land when in use, such that they must be elastically deformed in order to install or remove them.

Installation and maintenance

The name snap ring generally refers to circlips that have the ends formed to aid installation and removal and are not formed from wire (i.e., do not have a round cross-section). These rings are designed to be installed and removed with special pliers. Some of these special pliers can be configured for internal or external clips, while in other cases, one plier is used for internal clips and another for external clips. For expediency in the field, a pair of

needle-nose pliers Needle-nose pliers, also known as long-nose pliers and snipe-nose pliers, are both cutting and holding pliers used by artisans, jewellery designers, electricians, network engineers and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and snip wire. Their nam ...

(for internal clips) or leverage with a flat-headed screwdriver (internal or external) is sometimes used. Since most snap rings are stamped from sheet steel, one side is slightly rounded and the other has sharp, rough edges. This is due to the stamping die behaving like a cookie cutter and causing a slight rounding of the upper edge of the cut clip. The snap ring must always be installed such that force is transmitted to the retaining groove from the rounded side of the ring, not the rough or square-edged side. If a snap ring is positioned such that its flat side is pressed into the rounded edge of the groove, then when load or force is applied, the flat edge of the snap ring will "bite" into the rounded edge of the retaining groove. The snap ring will distort and ride up the rounded edge, spreading an external snap ring and compressing an internal snap ring. This leaves the clip prone to being forced out of its groove and failing at its retaining function. The accompanying images illustrate the correct orientation of the snap ring in its groove. Wet or dry lubrication is recommended to reduce friction against the circlip and maintain function. File:Si-ri-zange-ring.jpg, Circlip pliers holding an internal circlip File:Internal_Snap_Ring.jpg, Correct orientation of an internal snap ring in its groove File:External_Snap_Ring_Orientation.jpg, Correct orientation of an external snap ring in its groove

References

External links

{{Commons category, Circlips
Definition with pictureHistorical background
Fasteners