Cotter Pins and Wire Clips

Cotter pins and wire clips are mechanical fasteners that are designed for ease of installation and removal. Cotter pins (cotter keys, split pins) are similar to staples and rivets. They are usually made of wire or soft metal, and have a half-circular cross-section. During installation, two metal tines are bent. Like cotter pins, wire clips are also available in a variety of sizes and styles. Typically, they are used to keep wires organized. By contrast, cotter pins and cotter keys are used in wider range of applications. When used as shear pins, for example, these metal fasteners are designed to break in the event of a mechanical overload, thus preventing damage to more expensive components such as the drivetrain of an automobile. Other types of cotter pins and wire clips are also available.

Typically, cotter pins and wire clips are used in conjunction with other mechanical fasteners such as clevis pins. There are many different types of products. Examples include extended or hammerlock pins, clinch pins, hairpin cotters, and hairpin clips. Extended cotter pins and hammerlock cotter pins are split devices that are opened out after being passed through a hole. Clinch pins have a hump on one end and are self-securing so that they ends do not need to be bent. Hairpin cotters are reusable pins that are sometimes called hitch pin clips or external hairpin clips. One end of the pin is inserted in the hole of a hitch pin; a hump on the other side clips the pin externally. Hairpin clips are also reusable. These cotter pins and wire clips are made of wire and bent for external fastening applications. 

Cotter pins and wire clips include ring cotters, twist pins, circle cotters, and safety pins. Ring cotter pins are wire pins that are coiled into the shape of a ring. They are also called circle cotters. Twist pins are twisted-wire pin clips that can be used as replacements for standard hairpin cotters. These fasteners are self-locking, and easy to install and remove. Circle cotters are manufactured from wire that is wound or turned on from the middle out. The open end of the cotter is threaded into a hole in a pin and then turned until it snaps into place. Circle cotters are very secure, and are used where sharp ends are not permitted (such as fabric applications). Safety pins are cotter pins and wire clips that are similar in construction to household safety pins, but are designed for industrial applications.

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