As a writer and editor, it’s always fun (and sometimes surprising) to look back at the end of the year and see what articles our readers were most interested in. And for you, our readers, it offers the chance to take a quick look at what are, at least to some of your peers, important topics […]
Applications
When is static load capacity important?
When sizing a recirculating bearing, most designers and engineers focus on bearing life, which is based on dynamic load capacity. This is the load at which a linear recirculating bearing will, with 90 percent certainty, achieve the targeted service life before fatigue occurs. Static load capacity, on the other hand, is the force that causes permanent […]
How to choose linear guide accuracy
When choosing a recirculating linear guide, there are several criteria that need to be specified, including size, preload and accuracy. And although the term “accuracy” is often used in a generic sense, when referring to recirculating ball or roller guides, it designates five characteristics: Height tolerance of the rail and block assembly Permissible difference in height between […]
How to choose linear guide preload
When choosing a recirculating linear guide, one of the key criteria in the specification is preload. Linear guide preload eliminates the clearance between the bearing block and the rail, which increases rigidity and reduces deflection when external loads are applied. To achieve preload, manufacturers use balls (or rollers, in the case of roller bearings) whose diameter is […]
What is stick-slip?
Stick-slip, also referred to as “stiction,” is the bane of engineers and machine builders who need smooth, precise motion. Simply put, it’s the jerkiness that can plague both plain and recirculating linear bearings when they transition from standstill to motion. Here’s why stick-slip happens… When two objects slide against each other, friction works against their motion. […]
How linear force-current relationships from linear motors improve motion
Applying an electric motor is easier when one knows what it will output for a given input. The simpler it is to predict that, the more elegant and robust the design. To this end, some linear motors have linear force-current relationships so engineers don’t need to accommodate nonlinear effects through approximation or additional terms in […]
The good old days…they were terrible!
That was the mantra of my Technology and Society professor in college. And in many cases, I have to agree with him. While we like to romanticize the “good old days,” when things were simpler and more straightforward, how many of us would really want to go back and work in the era of slide rules […]
What are some alternative ways to get DOFs from XY gantries?
Repeatability and accuracy are core to all motion systems — especially XY gantries. On gantries, controls make axes run through predefined trajectories. Traditional XY gantry setups include an upper Y-axis gantry member sitting on twin X1 and X2 support axes. The latter axes include motor, screw, and bearing separated by a finite distance orthogonal to stroke. […]
Linear actuators from Delta Products simplify OEM design work
Delta now offers LU-Series linear ballscrew actuators for OEM design-in. The linear actuators from Delta Products improve machine automation cost efficiencies & cycle times. The design is a compact actuator comes fully assembled in a patented coupling-less mounting configuration to reduce torsional backlash and shorten installation footprint. More after the jump. The highly rigid design reduces […]
Intelligrated expands sortation portfolio (with vertical conveyors, tote stacking and more)
Today’s automated operations require flexibility and simplicity to accommodate multiple product and packaging types, fit shrinking layout requirements and scale with growing demand. Intelligrated now offers more from its sortation portfolio with solutions designed for these challenges. USS vertical conveyor and sortation, tote stacking and destacking, buffering and sweeper sorter systems offer simple solutions engineered to fit […]