There are a variety of leaf springs, usually employing the word "elliptical". "Elliptical" or "full elliptical" leaf springs, patented in 1804 by the British inventor Obadiah Elliott, referred to two circular arcs linked at their tips. This was joined to the frame at the top center of the upper arc, the bottom center was joined to the "live" suspension components, such as a solid front axle. Additional suspension components, such as trailing arms, would usually be needed for this design, but not for "semi-elliptical" leaf springs as used in the Hotchkiss drive. That employed the lower arc, hence its name. "Quarter-elliptic" springs often had the thickest part of the stack of leaves stuck into the rear end of the side pieces of a short ladder frame, with the free end attached to the differential, as in the Austin Seven of the 1920s. As an example of non-elliptic leaf springs, the Ford Model T had multiple leaf springs over its differential that were curved in the shape of a yoke. As a substitute for dampers (shock absorbers), some manufacturers laid non-metallic sheets in between the metal leaves, such as wood.

Elliot's invention revolutionized carriage design and construction, removing the need for a heavy perch and making transportation over rough roadways faster, easier, and less expensive.^[3]

Leaf springs were very common on automobiles, right up to the 1970s in Europe and Japan and late 1970s in America when the move to front-wheel drive, and more sophisticated suspension designs saw automobile manufacturers use coil springs instead. Today leaf springs are still used in heavy commercial vehicles such as vans and trucks, SUVs, and railway carriages. For heavy vehicles, they have the advantage of spreading the load more widely over the vehicle's chassis, whereas coil springs transfer it to a single point. Unlike coil springs, leaf springs also locate the rear axle, eliminating the need for trailing arms and a Panhard rod, thereby saving cost and weight in a simple live axle rear suspension. A further advantage of a leaf spring over a helical spring is that the end of the leaf spring may be guided along a definite path.

A more modern implementation is the parabolic leaf spring. This design is characterized by fewer leaves whose thickness varies from centre to ends following a parabolic curve. The intention of this design is to reduce inter-leaf friction, and therefore there is only contact between the leaves at the ends and at the centre, where the axle is connected. Spacers prevent contact at other points. Aside from weight-saving, the main advantage of parabolic springs is their greater flexibility, which translates into improved ride quality, which approaches that of coil springs; the trade-off is reduced load carrying capability. They are widely used on buses for improved comfort. A further development by the British GKN company and by Chevrolet, with the Corvette, among others, is the move to composite plastic leaf springs. Nevertheless, due to the lack of inter-leaf friction and other internal dampening effects, this type of spring requires more powerful dampers/shock absorbers.

Typically when used in automobile suspension the leaf both supports an axle and locates/partially locates the axle. This can lead to handling issues (such as "axle tramp"), as the flexible nature of the spring makes precise control of the unsprung mass of the axle difficult. Some suspension designs use a Watts link (or a Panhard rod) and radius arms to locate the axle and do not have this drawback. Such designs can use softer springs, resulting in a better ride. Examples include the various rear suspensions of Austin-Healey 3000s and Fiat 128s.

The two ends of a leaf spring are formed as eyes or eyelets, through which a fastener connects each end to the frame or body of the vehicle. One eye is usually fixed translationally but allowed to pivot with the motion of the spring, whereas the other eye is fastened to a hinge mechanism that allows that end to pivot as well as undergo limited translational movement. The axle is usually fastened to the middle of the spring by U-bolts.^[4]

The leaf spring acts as a linkage for holding the axle in position and thus separate linkages are not necessary. The result is a suspension that is simple and strong. Inter-leaf friction dampens the spring's motion and reduces rebound, which, until shock absorbers were widely adopted, was a very significant advantage over helical springs.^[5]

Because the axle is held in position by the leaf springs, soft springs--i.e. springs with low spring constant--are not suitable. The consequent stiffness, in addition to inter-leaf friction, makes this type of suspension not particularly comfortable for the riders.^{[citation needed]}

Multi-leaf springs are made as follows

1. Pre heat treatment process:
   1. Shearing
   2. Taper Rolling
   3. Trimming
   4. End cutting & pressing
   5. Second Warping
   6. Scarfing and Eye rolling
   7. Nipping
   8. C’SKG punching
   9. Center hole drilling.
2. Heat treatment processes:
   1. Heating for hardening
   2. Cambering
   3. Quenching
   4. Tempering
3. Post- heat treatment processes:
   1. Rectification
   2. Side bend removing
   3. Bushing
   4. Reaming
   5. Clamp riveting
4. Assembly and surface finishes:
   1. Shot peening
   2. Painting
   3. Assembling
   4. Scragging
   5. Marking and packing

1. Heating for Hardening: Any metal, or alloy which can be hard drawn, or rolled to fairly high strength and retains sufficient ductility to form, may be used for springs, or any alloy which can be heat treated to high strength and good ductility before, or after forming may be used. For special spring properties such as good fatigue life, nonmagnetic characteristics, resistance to corrosion, elevated temperatures and drift require special considerations. leaves are heated to critical temperature in an Oil-fired hardening furnace. Usually temperature maintained is between 850℃ and 950℃.
2. Cambering: The top leaf is known as the master leaf. The eye is provided for attaching the spring with another machine member. The amount of bend that is given to the spring from the central line, passing through the eyes, is known as camber. The camber is provided so that even at the maximum load the deflected spring should not touch the machine member to which it is attached. The camber shown in the figure is known as positive camber. The central clamp is required to hold the leaves of the spring. Machine used for this operation is Hydraulic press. Leaves are bent to required radius using a press. All the leaves are tested for required radius using cambering gauges.
3. Quenching : Hot bent leaves kept in tray and quenched in oil bath to get martensite structure. Martensite is the hardest form of steel crystalline structure. Martensite is formed in carbon steels by rapid cooling that is quenching of austenite form of iron. Machine used is conveyorized quench oil bath. Fire point of quenching oil is around 200℃ and it is seen to that  temperature of oil does not exceed 80℃. After quenching the structure of leaf spring becomes very hard and this property is not required. But this process is required to set the leaves to correct radius after cambering. To remove hardness tempering is done.
4. Tempering: Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness. Quenched leaves are reheated to drop hardness to required level. Electric heated temperature furnace is used for this process. Hardness of the leaves is found out using Brinell hardness testing. This process is also done to relieve stresses. Temperature inside the machine is maintained between 540 and 680℃. Tempering process involves heating of leaves below their re-crystallization temperature and then cooling them using water or air.

By blacksmithsEdit

Because leaf springs are made of relatively high quality steel, they are a favorite material for blacksmiths. In countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, Myanmar and Pakistan, where traditional blacksmiths still produce a large amount of the country's tools, leaf springs from scrapped cars are frequently used to make knives, kukris, and other tools.^[6] They are also commonly used by amateur and hobbyist blacksmiths.

In trampolinesEdit

Leaf springs have also replaced traditional coil springs in some trampolines (known as soft-edge trampolines), which improves safety for users and reduces risk of concussion.^[7] The leaf springs are spaced around the frame as 'legs' that branch from the base frame to suspend the jumping mat, providing flexibility and resilience.^[8]

ClutchesEdit

The "diaphragm" common in automotive clutches is a type of leaf spring.