The Architecture of Shoulder Bolts and Their Applications in Different Industries

Shoulder bolts are unique fasteners, partly because of their different designs and also because of their exceptional uses in different industries. While other custom fasteners are used to hold different parts together in a firm and rigid position, shoulder screws facilitate movement of mounted parts. Custom shoulder bolt options vary in shoulder diameter and shoulder-length sizes. This allows you to pick the custom shoulder bolts suited for your specific application.

Check out our EZ Screw Builder to build your custom screw!

Architecture of shoulder bolts

Shoulder bolts are also known as stripper bolts or shoulder screws. They have three main sections — the head, the shoulder, and the thread. The head of the shoulder screw has the largest diameter. The shoulder is measured in the shoulder length and the diameter size. The thread is smaller than the shoulder length in both length and diameter. The good thing is that you can have custom shoulder bolt options tailor-made for your use. The size and length of the custom shoulder bolts vary depending on the type of use, but a shoulder bolt will always have the three main sections — head, shoulder, and thread. Shoulder bolts can be used in different industries as discussed herein.

Automotive Industry

Vehicle manufacturers are one of the biggest consumers of shoulder bolts. Think of the drive shaft. It’s a major component of the car that transmits torque and rotation to the wheels to make them spin. The drive shaft utilizes shoulder bolts to connect to the other components of the drive train. Vehicle manufacturers also rely on custom shoulder bolts for linkages and pulleys. The fact that there are many custom shoulder bolt options at their disposal is good news for vehicle manufacturers. This is because many moving parts of a vehicle utilize custom shoulder screws, including the vehicle’s engine.

Plastic Injection Molding

Shoulder screws have main functions in an injection mold. First, shoulder bolts limit the distance a plate travels during the molding process. This helps injection molders to achieve a higher degree of accuracy. Secondly, the shoulder bolt is used to pull a plate during mold opening. Without the various custom shoulder bolt options, plastic injection molders would not achieve the correct level of precision in their molding processes.

Children Play Structures

Playground equipment for children has many moving parts that utilize shoulder screws. During the installation of play structures, the installation crew employs different custom shoulder bolts, to put together the structures. Since shoulder bolts allow movement of two joined parts, they are extremely useful in the design, construction, and installation of children’s play structures that have many moving parts.

Used in Electronics Assembly

Shoulder bolts are hugely applied in electronics hardware. One of the most notable uses of shoulder screws is securing the printer head in the printing machine. This makes it easy for IT technicians to easily detach the printer head when they need to conduct repairs. Electronic hardware relies on shoulder screws for assembly.

Used in Medical Equipment

From the manufacturing of surgery tools to orthopedic bone screws, shoulder screws are of much help. While the medical community uses many different types of screws, custom shoulder bolt options feature at the top of the list.

Manufacturing Equipment

There are many moving parts that must be interconnected to keep the machines running in the manufacturing industry. You may find different equipment such as rolling wheels, pulleys, cranks and gears, connecting rods, cams, chains, couplers, and spindles. All of these parts are crucial in the manufacturing process, and they utilize one of the many custom shoulder bolt options.

Within your industry, you may need shoulder screws that are a best-fit to your specific applications. You are in luck because there’re more than enough custom shoulder bolt options to go by. All you need is the exact measure of the head, shoulder, and thread of your shoulder bolts, and an experienced screw manufacturer will deliver your customized shoulder screws. Shoulder bolts solve many engineering challenges, especially in the manufacture and assembly of mechanical equipment. North America’s screw, nut, and bolt industry employs about 131,949 people.