Helix Linear Technologies now has a new and refreshed website at helixlinear.com. The updated site includes several new lead screw and linear actuator products that deliver smooth, clean and quite linear motion solutions. The manufacturer’s goal with this new website is to provide visitors an easier way to learn about Helix Linear’s products. The new […]
Ball + lead + roller screws
Roller screw actuators: Design and applications
Electromechanical actuators come in many varieties, with common drive mechanisms being lead screws, ball screws, and roller screws. When a designer or user wants to transition from hydraulics or pneumatics to electromechanical motion, roller screw actuators are usually the best choice. They provide comparable performance characteristics to hydraulics (high force) and pneumatics (high speed), in […]
Can-stack linear actuators: How the motor and screw components work
Can-stack linear actuators are one type of stepper-motor design that converts rotary to linear motion with a built-in leadscrew. The linear actuators incorporate can-stack motors — sometimes called claw-tooth step motors, tin-can stepper motors, or claw-pole motors — leverage low-cost construction with punched sheet-metal parts that form toothed (or clawed) cups surrounding bobbin coils. Common […]
Linear actuator designs for vertical lifts: What are pitfalls to avoid during jack-system design?
A jack system is anything from a single jack to eight to ten jacks working in tandem to move a load. Complete jack systems refer to the mechanical components of the jacks as well as their gearboxes and couplings and accessories and shafting; electrical components including motors, the system drive, and encoders; and the motion […]
Wear indicator nuts for jacks: How do they work?
One concern when designing a lift platform based on screw jacks is how to know if the travel nut (which bears the load) is worn out or about to fail — especially when the lift operates in a place where personnel might get hurt if the mechanism fails. In these machines, a follower nut assembly […]
What is Torque?
In this article, we answer the common question “what is torque?” Although torque refers to rotational motion, it is a fundamental concept in linear motion applications. Rotary motors produce torque, and when this torque is transmitted to a drive system – such as a screw, belt and pulley, rack and pinion, or chain and sprocket […]
What are the six basic parts of a worm-gear jack for vertical motion applications?
Screw jacks are indispensable linear-motion designs for lifts and other vertical-motion applications. They consist of six main components. First there is the housing. This contains all of the internal jack components. Second is the worm shaft – this is an input to the jack and typically where a motor handwheel is attached. The third jack […]
What’s the difference between ball screw jacks and machine screw jacks?
Most prevalent are worm gear screw jacks because they can lift heavy loads with little input torque. The large mechanical advantage is through a worm gear ranging from 5:1 to 32:1 in combinations with lead screw or a ball screw. Ball screw jacks differ from machine screw jacks in a few key ways. Machine screw […]
Have a ball screw application? Check out these resources for sizing and selection
One of the most popular subjects on this site is ball screws—especially the topic of how (and when) to select a ball screw. This is not surprising, because screws, and ball screws in particular, are workhorses of linear motion, with a range of styles, sizes, and performance capabilities that covers just about any application an engineer or designer […]
What happens when a bearing reaches the end of its life?
Determining the expected life a recirculating ball or roller bearing is fairly straightforward when the applied loads and duty cycle are known. Just use the bearing life equation: for recirculating ball bearings OR for recirculating roller bearings Where: L = bearing life C = bearing dynamic load capacity F = applied dynamic load These equations give the […]