Linear Motion Tips helps engineering and manufacturing professionals stay current on the latest linear guides and linear guide system news and information. Below you will find a variety of articles about linear guides and linear guide systems from written by industry professionals.

Intertronics unveils gantry style production oriented robot

Intertronics (www.intertronics.co.uk) has proudly introduced the all-new Fisnar UNITOP F5200N gantry model, which is a compact dispensing robot that provides all its moving axes above the work piece.

With low cost versatile robots playing a vital role in cost-reduced/quality-upgraded small scale production, the new F5200N delivers huge flexibility in various dispensing operations, effectively making it ideally suited for a wide range of operations, such as form-in gaskets, potting, adhesives, filling and coating.

One of the major strengths of the F5200N gantry model is its ability to establish its own working area. This allows the system to be mounted on any type of work surface. In addition, the system can be used on any kind of platform that needs a gantry type mounting and open access beneath the robot. It can also be used in conveyor fed automation or integrated in work cells that operate as a slave robot, enabling users to make their very own workstation.

The company has emphasised that the robot comprises a teach-pendant, an articulated gantry and a control module. The working area of the F5200N measures 200 mm x 200 mm and features a resolution accuracy of 0.001 mm. Its teach pendant enables it to support windows compatible dispensing software, and allows it to store as well as retrieve a maximum of 100 programs or 400,000 points.

Accuracy and reliability feature strongly in the F5200, which also offers a resolution of 0.001mm/axis based on its micro-stepping motor controlled through USB/RS232 interface.

Nippon Pulse’s new SLP Linear Stage ideal for industrial applications

Nippon Pulse (www.nipponpulse.com) has announced that its high precision SLP Acculine single-axis linear stage series comes with the ability to simplify the transition from conventional linear motion systems including pneumatic actuators, belt and chain drives and ball screws. The new SLP stage has integrated the company’s successful Linear Shaft Motor into its all-inclusive stage to provide useful solutions for various industrial applications.

The SLP linear stage is also fitted with shaft support in the housing, while simplifying transition from traditional ball screw systems. Meanwhile, the addition of Nippon Pulse’s Linear Shaft Motor effectively makes the SLP stage a low-profile, high-precision product.

The company’s Linear Shaft Motor features three fundamental concepts. First, it is simple as it consists of only a forcer and a magnetic shaft. Second, the shaft motor is high-precision, providing sub-micron resolution. This is attributed to several factors, such as less heat generation, stiffness that is up to 100 times more than other linear motors, no Eddy currents and no cogging issues. Finally, the non-contact shaft motor also features a non-critical air-gap, eliminating variation in force over the device’s stroke.

Offering the highest force-to-volume ratio, the all-new SLP stage is an ideal solution for those working in space-restricted environments. Unlike other linear stage currently offered on the market, the single-axis linear stage series offers the smallest dead zone.

IntelLiDrives unveils AccuRing direct-drive rotary stages

IntelLiDrives (www.intellidrives.com) has introduced the all-new AccuRing series direct-drive rotary stages that offer superior velocity control and angular positioning with large apertures.

Its large aperture rotary stages deliver zero backlash as well as no gear vibration or gear wear. The new direct drive AccuRings are much faster than gear and worm drives. The stage’s repeatability and system accuracy are maintained over long period of time, while its higher accuracy and zero backlash enables customers to yield more consistent and accurate products.

The new rotary stages are suitable for various applications such as single and multi-axis laser testing, inertial navigation device testing, antenna testing, precision wafer inspection, high-accuracy laser machining and photonic component alignment.

Unlike traditional transmission based rotary tables with the same payload and apertures capacity that can operate to 10rpm or below, the direct drive AccuRing stages can deliver up to 300 rpm continuous rotation.

Its angular contact bearings optimize performance with respect to moment stiffness, wobble and rotating friction. It also features a precision-machined rotating shaft that further reduces wobble.

The AccuRing employs brushless modular RotoLinear motor technology to maximize positioning performance. The motor offers all the benefits of a brushless direct drive motor — no gear trains to maintain, no brushes to wear as well as high speeds and high acceleration. This effectively makes the direct drive rotary stages ideally suited for applications that require smooth scan velocity, contoured motion and precise incremental steps.

Motorized Linear Rail System features space saving fold-over design

Linear motion products manufacturer Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions (www.haydonkerk.com) has announced that its Kerk® RGS/RGW linear rail platform now comes with a 180° folded-over motorized design. The design permits for a small footprint linear actuator system suitable for precision motion applications in space-limited work environments.

The folded-over linear rail offers all the necessary components for a complete motion subassembly, including the belt and pulley, stepper motor, bearing supports, precision lead screw, and rail with load carriage. Its rail also offers the ability to mount sensors in the integrated dovetail grooves.

With a fiberglass reinforced neoprene timing belt and lightweight aluminum pulleys, the available standard drive ratios from the motor to the screw are 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1, while the screw leads available range between 0.050 in/rev and 1.2 in/rev. A 0.125 thousandths positioning resolution can be achieved by using a 0.050 in/rev lead screw, a 200 step/rev stepper motor and a 2:1 ratio. For high-speed applications, a 1.2 in/rev lead screw and a 1:2 pulley ratio offers a maximum speed of over seven in/s.

To ensure accurate and repeatable positioning, all RGW and RGS linear rail are designed with wear-compensating anti-backlash driven carriages as standard. The 303 stainless steel lead screw and splined aluminum guide rail are coated with Kerkote® TFE coating, giving a permanently lubricated surface. The folded-over motorized RGS delivers a maximum load capacity of 35 lbs in the hanging/gantry load position and 35 lbs in the “Z” direction. Maximum “pitch” moment is 5.66 in-lbs, while maximum “yaw” and “roll” moment is 3.25 in-lbs.

Piezo Motor allows lower profile rotation table

Physik Instrumente L.P. (www.physikinstrumente.com) has unveiled a higher-precision variant of its M-660 low profile rotary table.

The new model is powered by piezo motors enabling it to feature a very low profile of just 14 mm (0.6 in). It is designed with a high accuracy direct measuring encoder and offers eight times the position resolution of the current version.

The new M-660 rotary table can also accelerate to velocities of 720 degrees/sec with its directly matched precision optical encoder resolving positions down to four µrad (0.00023°), offering the servo controller backlash-free, phase-lag-free feedback.

The new model’s self-clamping drive delivers very high stability, without any heat generation and energy consumption at rest, making it suitable for various applications, such as semiconductor/ test equipment, Optical Instrumentation and Metrology.

With its light-weight direct-drive ceramic motor functioning without magnets or gears, inertia and mass were significantly reduced as compared to traditional rotation stages. This result to precise bidirectional position and speed control — which is very important for high speed motion contouring — and very fast start/stop behavior, effectively making the M-660 outperform the acceleration, stability and settling speed of conventional servo motor gear-driven and direct drives mechanisms.

The company also offers a special motion controller for the piezo motors to allow customers to take full advantage of ultrasonic ceramic motors’ specific motion characteristics, which includes a solid software and driver package as well as a USB interfacing.

H2W linear stepper motor stages ideal for robotic applications

H2W (www.h2wtech.com) has launched a high performance linear stepper motor stages that travel at a maximum speed of 80 in/sec (two m/sec). These four and two phase linear steppers also deliver a maximum acceleration of 1G and stoke lengths of 144 in. (3.6 m), making them ideal for wire bonding, pick-and-place, parts transfer, inspection machines, semiconductor wafer handling and other robotic applications. Four of its models offer 20 lbs [89 N], 10 lbs. [45 N], six lbs. [27 N], and two lbs [nine N] of continuous force.

The new single axis linear steppers also provide low profile highflex and long life ribbon cable, bearings, motor and positioning system with optional end-of-travel limits and home position integrated into a compact package.

The company’s linear stepper motors offer precise acceleration, position and velocity control when integrated with an indexer and a microstepping drive. The four phase motors deliver one microstep equals .00002 in. (.5 microns) and one full step equals .005 in. (125 microns) of resolution, while the two phase motors provide one microstep equals .00004 in. (1 micron) and one full step equals .010 in. (250 microns).

The microstepping driver’s step and direction signal is provided to a moving four or two phase “Forcer”, which is comprised of a coil and magnet assembly, through a power cable. The ground “Platen” or track is surfaced and hard chrome plated for use with roller bearings. Linear steppers can also be personalized to meet the specification requirements of the customers. Stages can be custom drilled, sized, and tapped for convenient integration into an existing or new application. The company also offer fully tested and factory integrated microstepping indexers and drivers.

Linear Shaft Motor Stage Offers Nanoprecision

Radford, Va. - Nippon Pulse America’s new SCR100 stage is an ultra high precision, compact single axis stage that integrates a slide guide, encoder, and Linear Shaft Motor. It offers a wide range of advantages for ultra high performance and accuracy applications. The Linear Shaft Motor is a coreless direct drive linear motor which has zero cogging, allowing for higher resolution, speed, and continuous force than standard stepper motors and piezo servomotors. 

The SCR100 stage is a moving magnet design, which locates all cables and connectors in the stationary base. The absence of any moving cable means a clean and compact design and eliminates motion errors due to cable forces. The precision ground cross roller way provides high stiffness and smooth motion. Together they are capable of supporting higher torque levels due to offset loads with travels from 50mm to 300mm. The non-contact Linear Shaft Motor and optical linear encoders are self-contained inside the stage, making it a low-profile compact solution. The built-in non-contact optical linear encoder is available with resolutions from 1 micron to 10 nm with digital output. The sub-micron resolution results in a high accuracy stage, which is laser tested for optimum performance.

The SCR100 stage has the added benefit that any standard digital servo driver can drive the SCR100 stage. Any two SCR stages will bolt directly together to form a very stiff, compact X-Y stage. Two SCR stages can be supplied compounded as an X-Y stage to insure true orthogonal orientation.

www.nipponpulse.com

 

Aerotech’s AVS1000 series positioning stages offer precise elevation

Aerotech (www.aerotech.com) has introduced a new range of positioning stages suitable for applications where positioning of heavy or large loads over small incremental movements in elevation above a horizontal plane are required — the AVS1000 series stages. These stages offer low profile and precise motion capability making them ideal for use in automated tool alignment, semiconductor manufacturing and inspection, machine vision inspection systems and laser machining applications.

The AVS1000 series positioning stages can withstand large and heavy loads up to 135 kg, as it provide five nm resolution and up to ±1 μm accuracy. The stages also feature five mm of travel, which comes with custom designs, and optional cleanroom and electrostatic discharge protection.

With its moving-wedge design, the AVS1000 series offers precise elevation of a load found in a vertical plane. The horizontal movement from a precision-ground ball screw is converted by the precision machined wedge block into vertical elevation of Aerotech’s AVS1000 series tabletop. Excellent yaw and pitch characteristics over the length of travel reduces the impact of angular errors.

Sealed linear motion guide bearings with built-in wipers are incorporated to deliver long life, excellent payload capability, and smooth, precision motion. The stages guarantee stable and parallel vertical motion without rocking or horizontal deviation of the platform. The careful design of the bearing system and the wedge angle allows the stages to maintain a compact profile while providing submicron resolution.

The vertical lift approach of the stages serves as an alternative to Z-plane oriented stages. Aside from lowering the profile, the AVS1000 series stages can also conveniently access the load from any side, thanks to its large aperture.

PORTA-GANTRY RAPIDE 500 assembles in less than a minute

REID Lifting (www.reidlifting.com), world’s leading manufacturer of portable, lightweight lifting equipment for manual lifting applications, has announced the release of its latest portable gantry system.

The newest addition to the company’s PORTA-GANTRY portfolio, PORTA-GANTRY RAPIDE 500 has been developed in response to persistent customer demand. It is rated to WLL 500 kg and is capable of numerous configurations depending on the task. Using two pins, the PORTA-GANTRY RAPIDE 500 can be easily assembled by just one person.

The RAPIDE is made from aluminum alloys that have 20 percent greater tensile strength and are 70 percent lighter than mild steel. Thus, it is extremely light and portable. Specifically designed to be stowed in service vans, the new portable gantry system can be conveniently transported according to manual handling guidelines. Easy to assemble and flat-packable, the new RAPIDE is developed for speed and ease while retaining all the built-in safety that the company is known for.

“The PORTA-GANTRY RAPIDE 500 is a natural extension to the product range and is already proving very popular. Our mantra is ‘lightweight portable and safe’ — and this new product ticks all those boxes which are so vital to our customers,” said Nick Battersby, Managing Director at REID.

EN795-Class B certified, the PORTA-GANTRY RAPIDE 500 was manufactured in response to industries that require safe lifting solutions that can be deployed and transported easily, such as the water and wastewater industries.

Whispah Linear Slide suitable for non-contaminating linear motion applications

LM76 (www.lm76.com), a world leader in self lubricating linear motion bearings, has unveiled a linear slide ideal for non-contaminating linear motion applications such as pharmaceutical, medical and food processing equipment — the Whispah Linear Slide.

Offering smooth motion, the new linear slide is exceptionally quiet and is low cost. The Whispah Linear Slide has been specifically developed to fully utilize LM76’s Minute Man Linear Bearings’ properties, such as high load capacity, low friction, high speed (400 SFM), self lubrication, shock absorption, very low friction (0.09 to 0.12 C of F), zero absorption and noiseless.

Aside from non-contaminating environments, the stable two rail Whispah Linear Slide is also well suited for use in harsh environments such as welding systems, caustic wash downs, ceramic tile wet saws and outdoor (all-weather) applications.

The new Whispah Linear Slide comes in two different sizes. The WSP 2 Twin Rail System, which can handle greater load and provide higher stability, features 6.00” long x 7.00” wide table with a bearing centerline to centerline measurement of 2.906”. Meanwhile, the low profile WSP 1 Twin Rail System has 4.00” long x 5.50” wide table and a bearing centerline to centerline of 2.125”, can support side loads (Co-rad) to 75 lbs and vertical loads (Co-ax) to 150 lbs.

Both versions are offered in lengths to 120”. For longer life, aluminum two rail extrusion of the Whispah Linear Slide is covered with a Hardcoat finish. It also features predrilled mounting holes, making integration into existing or new systems easy. Although it is a low profile system, it still has room for easy mounting of electro-mechanical linear actuator or pneumatic cylinder to operate the slide.

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