Profiled rail and round shaft linear bearings are ideal for applications that require long stroke lengths in a fixed footprint. But if the design calls for a bearing that can retract to move away from the process or to allow access to a working area, a fixed rail or shaft won’t do. In these applications, […]
Applications
Happy Earth Day! How designers and engineers can make a difference
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Industrial sector was responsible for 51 percent of global energy consumption in 2011 (the latest year for which figures are available). Of the Industry sector’s energy use, 25 percent was in the form of losses. This represents a huge opportunity, not only for cost savings to manufacturers, […]
Three factors critical to servo motor sizing for linear motion systems
Selecting the right servo motor for a linear motion system is a complex task, beginning with initial assumptions and component selections, which must be checked through a series of calculations and, in most cases, repeated over several iterations until a suitable combination of motor and mechanics is found. Most motor manufacturers offer online sizing tools that make […]
Ball Chains: Two things you might not know
Radial bearings have used ball cages for nearly a century, but this technology was only introduced to profiled rail guides within the last two decades. THK pioneered the way, launching its Caged Ball® LM Guide in 1996, and other profiled rail manufacturers soon followed suit with ball chain and ball spacer designs. Now, virtually every style […]
When to use cam roller guides. (Hint: it’s more often than you think.)
With so many linear guide choices—from roller rails to plastic wheels—deciding which technology is right for your application can be difficult. On one hand, not every application requires machine tool rigidity and the ability to move a small car. But on the other hand, most applications require a guide that can withstand high duty cycles […]
Small to big, conveyors get job-specific features
Today’s conveyors perform better than ever thanks to material advances and modular designs tailored to applications. That’s true of miniature conveyors for discrete product sorting, extra-large conveyors for bulk material-handling operations, and everything in between. Discrete medical, pharmaceutical and assembly applications use the most miniature conveyors, but until the last decade or so, most such […]
Top ballscrew trends: More capacity and miniaturization
Ballscrews are a mainstay in motion applications, partly because their performance is so predictable, and they’re relatively easy to design into machinery. Over the last few years, advances in manufacturing and materials have improved ballscrew performance so OEMs today can get better linear motion with them at lower cost. For starters, the latest generation of […]
What is preload?
Have you ever wondered, “what is preload”? We’re here to help! Applications that use linear bearings or ball screws often require precise positioning, which means that the motion components must be rigid. And while recirculating ball guides and screws are able to carry large loads, they inherently have clearance, or backlash, due to the size […]
High-class linear guides: How industry quantifies rail accuracy values
I once overheard a colleague, relatively new to linear motion and eager to be helpful, tell a customer, “H stands for our high-class rail.” While the thought of a “high-class” rail was amusing, technically she was correct. In profiled linear guide terminology, H is the designation for high class … … high accuracy class, that […]
How to select and apply rail brakes
By Alex Thell, Mechanical Engineer, Nexen Group Linear guide rail brakes play a critical role in many linear motion applications by ensuring that the guide carriage and payload do not move under load. Precision linear motion is an important requirement for a range of machinery such as packaging machines, metal-cutting machine tools, woodworking machines and […]