Posted to News on 11th Apr 2008, 15:26
New double-row miniature ball monorail guidance system
At the Machine Building, Drives & Automation exhibition at the NEC (13-14 February 2008), Schaeffler's Linear Technology division (stand 2004) will be showcasing its comprehensive range of miniature plain and profiled rail guidance systems.
The miniature plain guidance systems are linear locating bearings with at least one carriage. They can support forces from all directions - apart from the direction of motion - and moments about all axes.
Each guide is ready-to-fit and maintenance-free, and capable of being used for stroke lengths of up to 3m. Both the carriage and guideway are constructed from extruded, anodised aluminium and therefore offer good resistance to chemicals and other contaminants.
The guides are suitable for use in lightweight, aluminium machine designs, as well as applications with low loads, moment loads, dry running or harsh environments. Operating temperatures are from -40 up to 80degC.
Double-row ball monorail
New to Schaeffler's existing range of miniature profiled rail linear guidance systems is the KWEM double-row miniature ball monorail guidance system, which comes in four sizes with corresponding guideways (TKDM).
These are extremely compact and are designed for medium load carrying capacity, medium to high moment loads, accelerations of up to 50m/s2 and speeds of up to 180m/s.
The double rows of balls are in four-point contact with the raceways. The double row assemblies consist of at least one carriage with a full-complement ball system, locating face and ball retainers, as well as a guideway with two locating faces. The units are pre-loaded and greased and operate in temperatures from -40 up to 100degC.
Special seals are provided at the carriage faces to prevent ingress of dirt. Re-lubrication is carried out via holes in the carriage end piece. The guideways can also be combined with all available carriage types within the same size and preload class.
The KWEM-MKS has a metal end piece, which makes the unit suitable for high-temperature environments or for applications with high dynamic forces. All metal parts are made from corrosion-resistant steel.
Miniature linear ball monorail guidance systems are useful for applications in which linear movements of high positional and repeatability accuracy are required. They are suitable for use in production and technical mounting systems, assembly equipment, microelectronic systems, medical engineering and other high-precision handling machines.
For more information on Schaeffler Group's range of miniature guidance systems, visit www.schaeffler.co.uk.
