LINEAR MOTION DEVICES

T
rends in the last few
ACTUATORS.....................................................A257 the assembly to your ma-
decades have led de- BEARINGS........................................................A268 chine. Similarly, you can
signers to rethink CONTROLS.......................................................A271 get an actuator that is syn-
concepts of industrial mo- LINEAR MOTION DEVICES ADVERTISING .......A272 chronous-belt-driven for
tion. Companion gains in the linear actuation, motor-
control theory and hard- ized, and with integral
ware allow schemes for geared speed reducer. You
complete motion systems not previ- can also get electrohydraulically actu-
ously possible. And motion technolo- linear part of its path, with or without ated devices that use the precision of
gies from fields as diverse as national special attachments. digital control with the high force of a
defense and medical diagnostics are • Plastic drive tape. hydraulic cylinder. You can get any
available for exploitation in other • Sliding-action leadscrew (usually such packages with integral control
fields. The primary effect is that to- acme screw), with nut. hardware and software.
day’s designers must consider not just • Ball-bearing leadscrew (ball-
industrial “power transmission” along screw) with nut. The balls recirculate
shafts and through reductions, but into and out of the load zone.
Screw jacks
also the broader concept of industrial • Planetary roller screw, in which One of the older conventional actu-
motion and control. And linear mo- a nut engaging several planetary ation packages, the screw jack, comes
tion is an essential part of it. threaded rollers mounts on a in a single housing containing the in-
Many modern processes call for threaded shaft. The threaded rollers put rotating shaft, the output linear
unattended operation, exceptional also engage the shaft. Axes of shaft, motion shaft (screw), all bearings,
precision, high throughput, flexibility nut, and rollers are parallel. Threads and the lubricant. The user connects a
for short runs, and total manufactur- on the nut and planetary rollers are of motor and the load attachment. There
ing integration. Often in such cases, the same helix angle. are three major types.
humans can’t perform well enough. • Recirculating roller screw, in Machine-screw jack. In the com-
Modern sensors and controls, coupled which a nut engaging several grooved mon machine-screw jack, Figure 1, ro-
with diverse and precise linear and rollers mounts on a threaded shaft. tation of the input (worm) shaft turns
rotary motion devices, combine to fill The rollers also engage the shaft. Dif- the worm gear and drive nut, which
the needs. Thus, designers must con- fers from the planetary roller screw in connects rigidly to the worm gear.
sider linear motion as an integral part that rollers recirculate into and out of The leadscrew (also called the lifting
of industrial motion and control. the load zone. screw or stem) is of acme or modified
The major componentry of linear • Skewed rollers on a rotating cy- square-thread form. It is threaded
motion systems can be categorized as: lindrical rod (traction motion on a through the drive nut and converts
• Actuators. threadless rod). rotary motion of the nut to linear mo-
• Support systems (bearings). • Fluid-power cylinder with direct- tion, if the screw is kept from turning
•Control systems and components. driving rod, rodless cylinder, or cable with the drive nut.
Many equipment manufacturers cylinder. Rolling-element bearings support
supply complete systems that include • Electric solenoid. the input shaft and worm gear to mini-
all major types of components. • Electric linear motor, such as lin- mize frictional loss. Thrust bearings
ear induction motor or linear step support the load. The stem cover stores
motor. lubricant and helps protect the stem
ACTUATORS • Adapted electric rotary motor. A from damage and contamination.
Common linear actuation devices common type has no shaft. The rotor Machine-screw jacks come in many
for single-axis motion include, but are also serves as the mating nut on a stock sizes with load ratings from less
not limited to: leadscrew with axis coincident with than 1 to more than 250 tons. A jack
• Various complex linkages such rotor axis. can mount stationary so the stem re-
as a walking beam or slider-crank Preceding listing order does not im- ciprocates, or an external nut can be
mechanism. ply relative importance. used so the stem rotates and the nut
• Gear rack and pinion set. Many linear actuation devices (attached to the load) reciprocates.
• Plate or disc-cam drive with come as complete packages. For ex- Most machine-screw jacks are self-
fixed-axis follower. ample, you can get a motorized ball locking. Thus, the load remains sta-
• Cylindrical-cam drive with fixed- screw powered through spur or worm tionary in the event of a power failure.
axis follower. gearing, and fully self-contained so The major limitation of machine-
• Chain, belt, or cable drive in the that you need only mount and wire screw jacks is low efficiency, typically

1
998 PT Design A257
 Screw-jack
application.
Figure 3 de-
picts a typical
lifting ar-
rangement,
sometimes
called a T-sys-
tem. It shows
how one motor
can power sev-
eral synchro-
nized lifting
points by us-
ing couplings
and right-an-
gle gearboxes.
Selection of
the best ar-
rangement for
an application
is usually
based on space
Figure 1—Typical machine screw jack. availability and motor
accessibility.
25% or less. Sliding between drive nut Here are some guide-
and screw generates heat. This heat- lines:
ing restricts duty cycles of machine • Keep screw load di-
screws to 5 to 7 1/2 min/hr at full load. rection parallel to the
Ball screw jack. If an application screw axis as much as
calls for the advantages of a machine- possible. Figure 2 — Typical ball screw jack.
screw jack, but needs a longer duty • Keep the span between drive
cycle or higher efficiency, a better components as short as practical. • You can include other torque-sens-
choice may be a ball screw jack, Fig- That keeps interconnecting shafting ing devices into a jack or a motor to pro-
ure 2, or a roller-screw jack. See also short and limits the chance of a criti- tect the whole system from overload.
discussions “Ball screws” and “Roller cal-speed problem. To select a screw jack, use a system
screws” which follow. The heart of a • When nec essary, use pill ow- design manual having illustrations,
ball screw jack is an assembly com- block supports, dynamically balanced column strength charts, power and
posed of a screw and nut, separated shafting, or both, to help avoid criti- torque data, and sample calculations.
by a recirculating series of balls. The cal-speed vibrations.
ball screw jack works like a ball bear- • Select shaft cou-
ing and has similar life predictability. plings with high
Rolling friction of the ball screw, strength-to-bore ra-
compared with sliding friction of the tios (such as gear cou-
machine screw, generates little heat. plings) to minimize
This allows higher lifting speeds in system inertia.
the ball screw jack and much better • Use three and
efficiency, typically 92 to 95%. The four-way miter boxes
higher efficiency reduces input power whenever possible,
requirement to about two thirds that to shorten intercon-
of a machine-screw jack for a given necting shafts.
load. Besides higher efficiency than • Use limit
machine-screw jacks, ball screw jacks switches to restrict
have a lower ratio of starting to run- extremes of stem
ning torque. Because of low rolling travel, or connect ro-
friction, many ball screw jacks can be tary switches di-
back-driven. See the discussion on rectly to one unused
back driving under “Ball screws.” side of the double-
Roller-screw jack. You can also extending input
improve on a machine-screw jack’s shaft of a jack.
advantages by using a roller-screw • Use a slip cou-
jack. See the discussion under “Roller pling between motor and jack input Figure 3 — Typical screw jack system
screws” which follows. shaft to provide overload protection. arrangement.

A274 1997 Power Transmission Design

 Before selecting any jack equip- preloaded ball screws, a common back- screw does add resisting torque. In
ment, determine: lash range is 0.002 to 0.013 in., de- some applications such as numeri-
• Number of lifting points. pending on screw size and ball diame- cally controlled machines, in order to
• Total load per jack. ter. To avoid backlash, one nut can be specify the screw’s motor drive com-
• Load direction (tension or com- preloaded against another on the pletely, you must know preload
pression). screw so there is no play. Similarly, torque in addition to load torque. Con-
• Speed at which load must move. one ball circuit can be preloaded sult the ball screw manufacturer.
• Total distance load must move. against another within the one nut. In Life expectancy. A ball screw is
Also, consider duty cycle and envi- some assemblies, slots cut in the nut like a ball bearing in many ways, and
ronmental conditions such as tempera- make it act as a preloaded spring when life expectancy is based on similar
ture and contaminants. Next, using a mounted, or a clamping device can principles. For a ball screw, life expec-
system design manual, make calcula- draw it up against the screw thread. tancy depends on:
tions to determine input torque, speed, Mountings. Critical speed of any • Applied force, including accelera-
and power requirements. Then check long shaft, including a ball screw, is a tion and friction loads.
column strength and select the jack. speed at which it vibrates violently in • Numbe r an d leng th o f load
a transverse direction. It results from strokes.
rotating-system unbalance. The mem- For best life, the load should be ap-
Ball screws ber can have several critical speeds, plied along the same axis as that of
The ball screw jack is a specific use all multiples or submultiples of one the ball screw. Side loads and loads
of a more general linear actuation de- predominating “first-order” speed. A that tend to overturn the nut cause
vice called a ball screw or ball-bearing machine cannot operate long at criti- uneven load distribution on the balls
screw. The first ball screws appeared a cal speed. Bidirectional thrust bear- and reduce life expectancy.
half-century ago, but their popularity ings at each end of a ball screw provide Life expectancy is based on a standard
surged in the last few decades as greatest support for critical-speed and rating of 1 million in. of travel. Most ball
needs for efficient mechanical linear stiffness considerations; bidirectional screw manufacturers offer charts to de-
actuation grew rapidly. Early models bearings at one end with the other end termine life in inches of travel for
were seen as low-friction actuators in various loads. For example, if the load is halved
automotive steering gear and similar totally free, the least support.
uses. Sliding friction of threads on the andStiffness.
the number A ball
andscrew’s
size ofdiameter
its load- from
by rated
about load,
nine expected life increases
times.
nut and screw is replaced by rolling carrying balls determine assembly Other factors affecting life rating are
friction of balls in approximately cir- stiffness. Preload and end configura- screw and nut materials and hard-
cular-form threads on the nut and tion can also affect stiffness. nesses. If hardness of a stainless steel
screw, instead of Acme or modified When a screw mounts with single- ball screw is reduced from, say, 56 to 45
square threads of the machine-screw direction thrust bearings at each end Rockwell C, then load capacity is re-
actuator. A deflector forces the balls or thrust bearings at only one end and duced to about 30% of what it had been.
out of the screw’s threads and into the freely at the other, then its spring Column load. Excessive compres-
ball guide on the nut. The guide di- rate varies directly with its cross-sec- sion load on a ball screw may cause it
rects them diagonally back to the op- tional area at the root diameter; di- to buckle. Column-load capacity of a
posite end of the nut and rechannels rectly with operating load; and in- ball screw varies with length, type of
them to the screw’s thread, so the balls versely with length. The spring rate of end mounting (fixity), and screw root
circulate continuously. This self-con- the ball screw system varies inversely diameter. In general, these parame-
tainment allows use of fewer balls. with the sum of the reciprocals of the ter changes increase the tendency for
The ball guide can be an external tube spring rates of the screw, the nut, and the screw to buckle as a column:
that mounts on the nut or, for more the bearings. Total system spring rate • Increasing axial load.
compactness, an integral interior part is always less than that of the most • Increasing length-to-diameter
of the nut. compliant member. (slenderness) ratio.
Formed vs. machined threads. Drive torque. For rotary-to-linear • Reducing end-support fixity.
Most ball screws are of steel or stain- motion, ball screw assembly drive Another problem that axial load
less steel. Threads are machined and torque is: can cause, unrelated to column buck-
ground for high precision, or roll- PL ling, is that load makes the ball screw
formed for lesser precision and lower T= lead change slightly. In most cases it
cost. In recent years, thread-forming 2πE
is insignificant. However, for heavy
techniques have improved to where where: load in tension or compression in a
better grade rolled-thread ball screws T = Torque input, lb-in. high-precision application, you may
approach the precision of many ma- P = Operating load, lb need to account for lead variation.
chined ball screws of several years ago. L = Lead, in./rev Installation. Misalignment can
Backlash. The precision of a ball E = Efficiency (about 90%) shorten life of a ball screw assembly
screw assembly depends strongly on Torque values from the equation do to a small fraction of the expected life.
the amount of backlash in it. Backlash not account for drag or inefficiencies Avoid misalignment by making
is the measured play between nut and due to mounting or to drive compo- mounting surfaces of the nut parallel
screw. Ball size and ball-and-ball- nents, to wiper drag, or to torque due or perpendicular to the ball screw cen-
groove conformity dictate the amount to preload. terline, or provide a gimbal housing if
of backlash. For ordinary non- Preload torque. Preloading a ball appropriate.

1
997 Power Transmission Design A275
 Get more life out of ball screws The ball screw on the
right has seen many
Many ball screws are hours of service, but it
repairable. Common B — Chipped and is more economical to
problems, such as loss of broken lands on this repair it than to
ball screw are not discard it. After
repeatability due to wear
severe enough to repair, it will look like
can be fixed by regrind- scrap it.
ing the ball thread the assembly at left.
grooves and then using
larger balls in the ball-
screw assembly. If a mi-
nor crash bends the
screw a bit, it can often
be straightened to its
original accuracy
and returned to
service. Surface C — Before repair,
brinnelling of ball
problems such as
screw threads is seen
spalling, brinelling, in the foreground as
chipping, or feath- vertical “dashes.”
ering, Figure A, Figure A —
can be reground Common forms of
and replated. All of wear or damage
these repairs may on the threads of
prove more eco- ball screws.
nomical than re- are the first to wear. Thus, new,
placement with a larger balls are used at every level to
whole new restore preload and repeatability.
ball-screw as- The secret to proper ball replace-
sembly. ment: for every 0.003 in. of wear, use
To deter- a 0.001 in. larger ball. The screw is
mine when a also straightened because a bow as
ball screw little as a thousandth of an inch can
needs repair, put excess moment on the ball nut,
and approxi- ceptable lash is which can later result in failure.
mate how
D — A close-up
0.002 to 0.004 in. • Level 2 (seven days) adds re-
much repair, For diameters grinding of the ball nut to the steps
view of the inside of the
measure its ball nut shows spalling of the two ranging from taken in Level 1. Ball-nut thread
diametral middle threads. 0.5625 to 0.6250 grooves wear faster than the screw
backlash, or in., the acceptable threads because they are subject to
lash. Diametral lash (not axial back- lash is 0.004 to 0.008 in. more ball travel.
lash) is a measurement that can be As noted, a ball screw with 80% or • Level 3 (seven days) adds re-
taken in the plant. The ball-screw more wear is likely irreparable. Four grinding of the ball screw threads,
assembly is placed in V blocks. An repairs is about the maximum for and as required, rebuilding of the
engineer lifts the ball nut vertically any ball screw. After that, bury the journal diameters with eutectic
and with a gage, measures the play ball screw with honors. spraying and grinding them back
between the ball nut and screw. For Levels of repair. When a ball to size.
a preloaded assembly, a diametral screw arrives at a repair facility, it is • Level 4 (14 days) adds regrind-
lash of 0.0005 in. indicates a wear inspected and evaluated for the type ing of the ball nut and ball screw.
factor of 50%. Minimal, or Level 1, of needed repair. This process can This level may cost 55% of a new as-
repair is needed to bring the screw take up to three or four days. sembly, but the repaired ball screw
back into use. A lash of 0.0035 in. In general, there are four levels of will have a normal new-screw life.
represents 80% wear and indicates cost-effective repair. While each suc- When the repair cost goes over 65%,
either a Level IV repair or a dead ball cessive level adds cost, this cost is buy a new assembly.
screw. Similarly for nonpreloaded still less than a new ball-screw These four levels of repair are clas-
assemblies, a diametral lash of 0.009 assembly. sified by the most common repairs
in. is 50% wear and needs Level 1 All repair levels involve the same and do not cover all contingencies.
and 0.015 in. is 80% wear and needs four basic steps: inspect, clean, re-
Level IV or replacement. ball, and straighten. Excerpted from an article by
For ball-circle diameters ranging • Level 1 (three days) repairs loss Thomson Saginaw Ball Screw Co., in
from 0.03934 to 0.04875 in., the ac- of repeatability due to wear. Balls the June 1996 issue of PTD.

A276 1997 Power Transmission Design

 A common installation procedure: duced side loads on the ball screw as- preloaded, bearings, slides or rails,
Mount the ball screw in its bearing at sembly. If torque from one end to the and frame. The user aligns and bolts
either end; loosely connect the nut to other is constant, there is no signifi- down the entire frame. You need not
its mounting; traverse the nut from cant binding in the mounting system. align or preload any component. You
one end to the other so it can seek its Several manufacturers now supply can get motorized versions, too.
own center; then tighten the nut complete ball screw assemblies, in- Back driving. The ball screw as-
mounting. This tends to alleviate in- cluding nut and screw properly sembly has the capability of either the

Selecting lubricants for ball screws

Lubricants maintain the low-fric- cosity is expressed in centistrokes (1 • Operating environment.
tion advantage of ball-screw assem- cSt = 1 mm2/sec.) Various grades have • Load.
blies by minimizing rolling resistance been selected for standardization • Speed.
between balls and tracks and sliding (DIN 51512). • Judgments based on knowledge
friction between adjacent balls. To determine the nominal viscosity of of the application.
Proper lubrication helps keep most the oil for an application, establish the In addition:
contaminants out, which reduces the mean speed of rotation of the ball screw • If the ball screw is horizontal,
damage foreign matter can cause. and, from it, the limiting speed,dnm, fac- add nothing to the flow rate, Q min , to
Oil and grease provide corrosion tor. You also need the temperature at account for orientation; if vertical,
protection, but lubricant choice de- which the ball nut is likely to stabilize. add 25%.
pends on the advantages and disad- Mean speed of rotation accounts for • If the application is clean and
vantages of each. Oil can be applied at the ball screw’s duty cycle: dry, add nothing to Qmin to account for
a controlled flow rate directly to the environment; if not, add 25%.
point of need. It will clean out moisture nm = n1(q1 ÷100)+ n2 (q ÷100) + • If the screw is not subject to high
and other contaminants as it runs ) loads or speeds, add nothing to Qmin to
through the ball nut and provides cool-
ing. Oil disadvantages include:
(
n3 q3 ÷ 100 + ...
2
account for severe running conditions;
if it is, add 50%.
• Possibility of excess oil contami- where: Grease lubrication. Grease is not
nating the process. nm = mean speed, rpm so widely used as oil for ball-nut lubri-
• Cost of a pump and metering sys- n1, 2, 3 ... = speed for time q1,2,3 ..., rpm cation, though it lubricates accept-
tem to apply oil properly. q 1 , 2 , 3 = time at speed n 1 , 2 , 3 . . . , % ably. Speeds that are high for ball
Grease is less expensive than oil to of total screws are no problem for grease, so
apply and requires less frequent ap- For typical applications, nm ranges speed is no criterion for selection.
plication, and it does not contaminate from 200 to 500 rpm. One problem with grease: It tends
process fluids. Grease disadvantages: The dnm factor is given by: to be fed out of the nut and onto the
• It is hard to keep inside the ball ball screws, accumulating at the ex-
nut and has a tendency to build up at dn = (d)(n ) tremities of travel where it collects
the ends of ball nut travel, where it ac- m m contaminants. It must be replenished
cumulates chips and abrasive particles. where: regularly.
• Incompatibility of old grease d = ball screw nominal diameter, Grease is a complex subject.
with relubrication grease can create a mm Greases consist of a mineral or syn-
problem. Typical values of dn m range from thetic oil, additives, and a thickening
Oil lubrication. Operating tem- 15,000 to 25,000 mm/min. Values of agent such as lithium, bentonite, alu-
perature, load, and speed determine dn to 100,000, where n is the maxi- minum, and barium complexes. For
the oil viscosity and application rate mum speed of rotation, are becoming most applications, use a grease with a
for an installation. If the oil is too vis- more common, and in such cases the drop point above 220 C, a service tem-
cous or if you use too much, heat may lower viscosity should be used if the perature range of -30 to 130 C, and a
be generated. If the oil is too thin or oil selection guide indicates a grade limiting speed factor (dn) above
you use too little, parts may not be midway between two adjacent viscos- 1,000,000. Such a grease is classified
coated adequately; friction and wear ity curves. as HL91 Grade 2 (DIN 51818) and is
may result. Ball nut operating temperature based on Mil-9-7711A.
The following guidelines are appro- should be about 20 C, however, it usu- As a rule of thumb, replenish grease
priate for most applications, but if ex- ally stabilizes a few degrees above at least every 800 hr. However, because
tremes of temperature, load, or speed screw-shaft operating temperature. If conditions vary so widely, you should
are involved, consult a lubrication you can’t measure nut temperature, confirm this interval by inspection, and
specialist. assume it to be 30 C for your initial se- readjust if needed. For extreme condi-
The recommended nominal viscos- lection of oil viscosity. tions, such as dn values above 50,000,
ity of the oil at 40 C is based on the Required oil flow rate is a function consult a lubrication expert.
mean speed of the ball screw, its di- of: Excerpted from an article by Thom-
ameter, and the temperature at which • Number of ball circuits. son Industries Inc., in the February
the ball nut is likely to stabilize. Vis- • Ball-screw orientation. 1995 issue of PTD.

1
997 Power Transmission Design A277
nut or screw rotating when a thrust
load is applied to the other member of
the assembly. However, not all ball Figure 5—Typical
planetary roller screw.
screws can back drive. The thread’s
In this style, roller
helix angle determines if the assem- screws remain in
bly can back drive. Generally, a ball constant contact with the
screw with a helix angle of 6 deg or threaded haft. In another
more will back drive; those of 4 to 6 style, roller screw
deg are marginal; those under 4 deg recirculate into and out
probably will not do so. Be aware that, of the load zone.
in some situations in which you would
not expect back driving, continuous
machine vibration with the ball screw increased significantly. Roller screws nipulators, and movement of prisms
unpowered and unrestrained might are more costly to produce than ball in laser measurement machines.
cause slow back driving. screws and they are applied mostly These curved linear systems con-
In many situations, you would not where application requirements of sist of slides or races, and rings (360
want the ball screw to back drive. For load-carrying capacity, axial stiffness, degrees of rotation) or segments of
example, should power fail on a lift, it linear speed, or acceleration and decel- rings (90 or 180 degrees of rotation).
could be disastrous for the load to run eration rates are especially stringent. One type of slide uses opposing fe-
back. You must assure that either the Overall, roller screws are similar to male bearings with V-shaped outer
ball screw cannot back drive or, if it ball screws in preload configuration, rollers in a two-and-two arrange-
can, that you provide a holding means backlash, lost motion, left-hand and ment. The bearings ride on a track
such as a spring-applied, electrically right-hand thread, back driving, effi- with matching V-shaped rails. A car-
released brake to prevent screw rota- ciency, torque, and power require- riage plate on top of the two-and-two
tion on power loss. ments. bearings is the mounting platform,
Variations. Many variations in Figure 5 shows a planetary roller Figure 6. Thus, the carriage assembly
ball screws and optional equipment screw. effectively runs on eight line-contact
let you adapt them to special require- points on a track with varying circum-
ments. For example, hollow screws ferential diameters.
are available for situations where low
Linear slides and races For a fixed segment of a ring, fixed
system weight is important, such as Not all linear motion applications center carriage plates are the most
in actuators on aircraft. consist of straight lines. Some appli- popular. A bogie carriage, Figure 7, is
cations require an oc- used around S-bends, slideways with
casional curve or the differing bend radii, and curves where
circular motion of looseness in the movement between
pure radial move- straight and curved sections is not de-
ment, such as that sirable. The bogie carriage runs on
found in tool changing swivel bearings, which operate on a
mechanisms, mea- principal similar to that used in train
surement of turbine and tram bogies to negotiate bends in
blades, rotating ma- the track.
Figure 4—Bidirectional 1-piece ball screw
needs no joint to connect and synchronize Fixed center carriage with
left and right-hand screws. two-and-two bearing support

Options in seals, wipers, mounting

arrangements, housings, preload de-
vices, and similar characteristics help
also. And you can get specialty sys-
tems such as the bidirectional 1-piece
ball screw of Figure 4. It lets two nuts
move in opposite directions simulta-
neously, an advantage in applications
such as clamping devices and robot-
Opposing female
ics. Also, a trunnion-mounted nut can V-shaped bearings
be helpful in some applications; a tele-
scoping screw in others.
Track with male V-shaped rails

Roller screws
Figure 6 — V-ball bearing systems use opposing female bearings with V shaped outer
The first roller screws appeared in rollers in a two-and-two bearing support arrangement. A fixed center carriage uses the
the early 1950s. However, only in the two-and-two arrangement to support the mounting plate. Two of the V bearings have
last decade or so has their popularity eccentric studs to facilitate adjustment.

A278 1997 Power Transmission Design

 ment). Axial run-out nears an extreme of horizontal crank
is 5 microns. throw, its velocity vector is nearly
For multiple car- parallel to your line of sight. The
riage track systems, point seems nearly motionless, then
the greatest re- motionless, then it reverses direction.
Bogie carriage peatability error is If the crank turns at constant angular
in the direction of velocity, that projected action of the
travel and is depen- point is simple harmonic motion.
dent on the play in Though simple harmonic motion is
the drive mecha- fairly easy to produce, it has high lin-
nism. However, it is ear acceleration at the extremes of
possible to achieve travel. High acceleration means high
repeatability with force—which generally means in-
0.2 mm with a belt- creased tendency for machine-part
driven system. wear or breakage, and for workpiece or
With all radial product damage. Cams, bar-type link-
motion, engineers ages, and similar devices can modify
must consider cen- crank-generated motions into profiles
trifugal force. The of lesser peak acceleration. “Cycloidal
force is proportional motion” is such a profile.
to the square of the Moreover, modern electric motors
tangential velocity. and their controls modify displace-
Doubling the car- ment, velocity, and acceleration pro-
riage speed quadru- files of mechanisms so that you can
ples the force. It is readily get the best profiles for a pro-
also inversely pro- cess without danger to components.
portional to the ra- For example, a cam-and-screw
Ring segment dius. Doubling the mechanism, Figure 8, adapts a con-
radius halves the stant-lead cam and a ball spline to
force. Often, this provide linear motion according to
Figure 7 — A bogie carriage carries loads around S bends or force will also cause predetermined programs that the mo-
slideways with differing bend radii. The bogie carriage runs on a moment load about tor and its control execute. The cam
swivel bearings, which operate on a principal similar to that
the carriage plate. mounts rigidly on two ball-spline
used in train and tram bogies to negotiate bends in the track.
Excerpted from an bushings that can traverse the length
article by Bishop- of the spline shaft. The bushings are
V-ball bearing track systems are Wisecarver Corp., in the August 1996 preloaded against each other to
best suited to light loads — direct issue of PTD. prevent backlash.
loads from 120 to 3,800 N (26.98 to The spline bushing can move axi-
854.38 lb) and moment loads from 0.6 Other mechanical actuators ally on ball tracks on the spline shaft,
to 220 Nm (0.53 to 1,946.90 lb-in.) in a but it cannot rotate relative to the
lubricated system. Refer to manufac- As listed earlier, there are many shaft. Thus if torque turns the spline
turers’ tables for precise load han- linear actuators besides screws. shaft, the bushing turns with the
dling capabilities. Among the oldest—still much used in shaft, causing the cam to rotate. A mo-
Rings offer stability with support specific machines—is the slider-crank tor-and-reducer package turns the
as near to the load as possible. A mechanism and its many variations. spline shaft, which therefore turns the
gearcut rack on the outside or inside Perhaps in its eldest form it converted bushing and cam. The cam then acts
diameter of the register face of the rotary to linear motion to drive pump much like it would in a typical rotary
ring serves as the drive mechanism. pistons. Later versions became popu- index drive except that the traditional
Linear slideways are available in lar converting linear motion to rotary roles of cam and cam follower are re-
lengths to 4 m; for longer lengths, motion on steam-engine-driven rail- versed: An axially mobile cam engages
slide segments are matched and but- road locomotives and paddlewheel- a straight-line array of stationary cam
ted together. propelled ships. The simplest—the followers. The cam rotates through
V-ball bearing systems can run dry classical Scotch yoke—converts ro- the row of followers to achieve linear
or lubricated. Lubrication, through tary to linear motion in a characteris- actuation. The cam seemingly pulls it-
lubricator blocks, can prolong system tic linear-motion profile called simple self along the single-file row of stand-
life by as much as 150%. Every time a harmonic motion. Imagine looking ing followers, contacting at least two
ring slide rotates it is wiped with oil, down at right angles to the crank’s at any instant to prevent backlash.
which is also imparted to the female V axis and following the motion of a A carriage housing mounts on and
of the bearing surfaces. point on its circumference. As the travels with the cam, but does not ro-
For rings or segments of rings, it is point travels across the axis its entire tate. Tapered roller bearings let the
possible to achieve circular motion with velocity vector is perpendicular to cam turn inside the housing but sup-
radial run-out no greater than 0.05 mm your line of sight; the point seems to port thrust load only; two linear bearing
per 360 deg (pro rata over angle of seg- be moving fastest. When the point systems over the actuator’s length carry

1
997 Power Transmission Design A279
 and continue to seal.
Magnetically coupled rodless cylin-
ders make slots and dynamic seals
unnecessary; the piston couples mag-
netically to the external carriage.
Recent versions of these rodless
cylinders can now handle tipping or
transverse loads. Most vendors offer
fully pre-engineered, out-of-the-box,
bolt-it-down, hook-it-up systems. Op-
tions include position sensors, posi-
tion and velocity controls, end-of-
stroke bumpers, shock absorbers, and
other snubbing devices, brakes, ex-
ternal and guides.

Figure 8—Cam-and-screw mechanism reverses usual roles of cam and followers. As

reducer output turns ball spline, constant-lead rotary cam engages cam followers
standing in a row. Positive cam pitch makes cam move axially, engaging succeeding
followers and disengaging receding followers.

the weight of the cam, carriage, and pusher-cleat attachments. Figure 10 —

payload, and resist tipping moments. Many cable drives and Rodless cylinder.
Standard leads for such systems power-transmission This is a band design
can be up to five times more than roller chain drives which handles high, off-
those of ball screws. work similarly with center loads.
Other types of mechanical linear ac- attachments. Many
tuation include belt, chain, and cable positioning tables, Electric linear motors
drives in their linear travel paths. For single stages, and self-
example, Figure 9 shows a linear actua- contained linear actuation An electric linear motor makes con-
tor specifically for conveying (linearly systems use the reinforced synchronous version of rotary to linear motion un-
pushing) products. The driving belt as the linear-motion element. necessary. Thus, linear motors can
elements are wire-reinforced The popularity of rodless cylinders, eliminate shafts, belts, and gears to
polyurethane synchronous belts with Figure 10, for linear motion applica- minimize space, energy, and costs.
tions is increasing, For information on rotary motors, see
especially in appli- the Motors Products Department in
cations with space this handbook.
restrictions. It can Linear motors generate force
challenge mechani- rather than torque. Force to inertia
cal and electrical ratio and stiffness — depending on
actuators in many the type of linear motor — can be as
uses, and product high as 30:1, and to 0.9 million N/mm
variety has grown or 5 million lb/in., respectively. Some
over the last few versions offer smooth motion to
years. within a fraction of a percent of their
The band cylin- nominal velocity, which can range be-
der is a popular tween 1 micron/sec to over 5 m/sec.
version of the rod- Others can operate continuously, pro-
less cylinder. The vide 5 g (or higher) acceleration, and
Figure 9—Wire-reinforced polyurethane cylinder wall has a slot running its offer a low settling time, in some
synchronous belts with attachments full length. The slot lets the piston cases, less than 50 msec.
provide linear motion in straight-line connect mechanically to an external Linear motors all have the same
portion of belt travel. Various cleats, carriage. A dynamic strip-type seal basic structure. Imagine a rotary ac
pushers, or lugs provide contact. Many over the slot’s outer surface and an- or dc motor that has been sliced along
positioning tables or stages use such a
other over its inner surface seal-in its axis and opened up flat, resulting
device for linear motion. With
attachments, roller chain drives and cable cylinder pressure and seal-out con- in two sections. One section, the pri-
drives can work similarly. (Note: Not taminants. Carriage travel opens the mary, is a set of electrical coils embed-
shown is the belt-driving mechanism, seal section beneath the carriage, but ded in a core (typically of steel, epoxy,
which can be various devices, such as maintains the seal. As the carriage or aluminum). The structure of the
sprockets.) passes, the seals reseat on the slot second section (the secondary) de-

A280 1997 Power Transmission Design

pends on the type of linear motor. A Electric feedthrough Heater core
typical air gap of 0.024 in. (0.6 mm) Polymer core Piston
separates the two sections for non- Electric
contact force transmission. wires
While there are several types of lin-
ear motors, many rely on the interac-
tion of magnetic flux that produces
forces on the moving and stationary
members. For the voice-coil, dc force,
and step-motor types, part of this flux
comes from coil current. For the in-
duction motor, ac excites a coil that
produces flux. In turn, this flux inter- Figure 11 — Cross-section of a solid-state actuator. Heat expands a polymer, which
acts with flux produced by induction pushes against a piston.
(like a transformer) and generates a
force proportional to the relative expands the polymer that pushes
strengths and distribution of the in- against a piston, Figure 11. As
teracting fluxes. the polymer cools, the piston re- Coil
Voice-coil motor. Constructed tracts.
Drive rod
like solenoids, these motors come in Actuation speed depends on
moving-coil and moving-magnet con- the heat sink temperature, ap- Coil
figurations and produce more precise plied power, and applied load.
motion than solenoids. Voice-coil mo- Polymers are available to react
tors maintain high linearity between at temperatures from -50 to 625
Permanent magnet
applied current and developed force; F. In some cases, the heat gener-
operate efficiently; and, when built ated in the application can be
with high-energy magnet materials, used to activate the actuator. Figure 12 — The actuator consists of a
develop high forces and acceleration Polymer expansion is directly pro- drive rod made of the magnetostrictive
alloy Terfenol-D, copper wire coil, Alnico
rates, to 100 g in some versions, and portional to the received electric power.
permanent magnets, and a magnetic
can oscillate at high frequencies. It can be precisely positioned anywhere return circuit housed in aluminum or
However, as with a solenoid, the sim- in its range of travel by varying the stainless steel.
ple mechanical structure precludes electric power from 60 to 200 W. De-
long strokes. pending on heat sink temperature and
Single-axis actuators. Another the weight of the load (minimum of 25 The rod responds to the application
short-stroke linear device is the sin- lb), continuous power input is needed or withdrawal of current almost in-
gle-axis actuator. Recent develop- to maintain a specific temperature for stantaneously. The expansion is pro-
ments have focused on the actuation the piston to hold position. portional and repeatable. The
driver that provides the linear mo- Cooling occurs when electrical amount of force that the actuator sup-
tion. One driver is a polymer that ex- power is reduced or removed from the plies to linearly move an object de-
pands under applied current. The device. The polymer is stiff, with a pends on the size of the rod. A 12-mm
other driver is an alloy material that bulk modulus (hydraulic stiffness) of diam rod can exert at least 200 lb of
expands when subjected to a mag- 1 million psi. force. A 75-mm diam rod can exert at
netic field. The other new linear actuator has a least 9,000 lb. Commercial versions
The polymer-based actuator com- drive rod made of Terfenol-D, a mag- of this actuator have available dis-
bines the small size of solenoids, the netostrictive metal alloy of terbium, placements in the thousandths of an
forces of hydraulic cylinders (to 500 dysprosium, and iron. It uses magne- inch to over 2 in.
lb), and the proportional control of tostriction, where an applied mag- Thus, these actuators are for appli-
electric motors. One of its benefits is netic field causes the material to cations that need high speed and high
that it lets engineers stay under the change its geometric dimensions. force, such as machining.
20-lb limit of traditional short-stroke The actuator has copper wire coil Linear induction motor. A lin-
actuators without buying custom and permanent magnets housed in ear induction motor resembles a com-
solenoids. These actuators can oper- aluminum or stainless steel, Figure mon rotary induction motor that has
ate hydraulic valves and brakes, re- 12. The copper wire is wound around been split axially and rolled out flat.
place a ball screw system, actuate the drive rod. When current of 1.4 to Its speed-thrust curve, Figure 13, re-
controls in car engines, and control 3.4 A from an external power supply sembles the speed-torque curve of a
robotic gripper manipulators. is applied to the coil, it creates a mag- standard ac NEMA Design B rotary
Rather than magnetics, it uses a netic north-south orientation at the motor. In operation, the moving part
thermally reactive polymer. Heat is molecular level. This new orientation of the motor lags its synchronous
supplied by an electric heating ele- causes the drive rod to lengthen as speed to develop thrust. Also, speed
ment that consists of an electrically the diameter shrinks. When current depends on power-supply frequency.
and thermally conductive carbon- is removed, the rod returns to its orig- Efficiency is low except when the mo-
fiber or silicon-carbide grid. The heat inal shape. tor operates near design rating.

1
997 Power Transmission Design A281
 as a servo system stationary; the primary, with the
with a closed position moving part of the system.
loop. Figure 14 shows The thrust produced in an ac linear
such a servomotor motor is approximately proportional
system in which the to the face area between the primary
linear measuring sys- and secondary parts. A modification
tem could be an en- of the single-coil primary system is a
coder feeding position dual-coil system, in which a primary
data back to an ac part mounts at either side of a flat
vector drive. (For secondary. In effect, that doubles the
more on vector drives, working face area and thus the thrust
see the “AC vector” of a similarly sized single primary
section in the Ad- system. In most applications, the dual
justable Speed Drives primaries are fixed and the secondary
Figure 13—Typical speed-thrust curves of Product Department in this hand- coil is with the moving part of the sys-
linear induction, force, and step motors. book). tem. Thus, you would consider first a
The linear induction motor in Fig- single-coil primary system for long-
The primary is a wound structure, ure 14, sometimes called an asynchro- stroke applications; a dual-coil pri-
much like a conventional motor sta- nous linear motor, is a single-coil mo- mary for shorter-stroke, higher-
tor. The secondary is a metallic struc- tor — the primary part (similar to a thrust applications.
ture, much like a rotor. Either struc- stator in a rotary motor) holds the Linear force motor. Like the lin-
ture can be the moving part of a linear windings. The secondary part (like a ear induction motor, you can think of
induction motor. rotor in a rotary ac motor) consists of a linear force motor as a conventional
The motor can operate directly iron and short-circuit rods of copper dc motor that has been slit axially and
from line current with a fixed speed or aluminum. The magnetic field in rolled out flat, Figure 15. It comes in
thrust characteristic. It can also oper- the secondary is generated by the cur- moving-magnet, moving-winding,
ate in an open loop from an ad- rent induced by the moving and alter- brush, and brushless types, and with
justable-speed source for adjustable- nating magnetic field of the primary. various core materials.
speed applications. And it can operate In most cases, the secondary coil is Brush-type motor is the least ex-
pensive. Operating from direct cur-
rent, each motor has a stationary coil
assembly and moving magnets. The
motor cable does not move in this con-
figuration. Velocity goes to 1 m/sec;
and acceleration to 0.5 g. Above these
values there is excessive arcing and
rapid deterioration of the brushes.
These motors are excluded from clean
room and vacuum applications.
Brushless, aluminum-core linear mo-
tor operates from three phase power,
with a moving coil and cable. In applica-
tions requiring short travel lengths, the
coil can be stationary and the magnets
moving. The core of the primary en-
closes the windings in aluminum. There
is no magnetic attraction between the
two motor parts. Therefore, it may re-
Figure 14—Typical ac linear servomotor. It could be powered by a vector drive that quire a double-sided magnet assembly
receives position and speed information from the linear measuring system. to close the magnetic circuit effectively.

A282 1997 Power Transmission Design

 phase wound stator Figure 16 — The stator assembly (left)
assembly, Figure 16. shows the windings that are sequentially
The design helps its activated to move the armature (right). The
Figure 15—Typical linear force motor. speed approach that of voice coil actu- actuator, including its own weight, can
accelerate at a rate of 8,600 in./sec 2 when
ators and is spatially efficient to ac-
driving a load of 23 lb. The stator is 9.0 in.
This type of linear motor generates commodate an increase in the amount OD ϫ 4.9 in. ID ϫ5 in. long. The armature
smooth motion. of magnet material and coil windings is just under 4.9 in. in diameter ϫ 8 in. in
Depending on the moving load, it can in the actuator. Minimum magnetic length. Armatures can be made to almost
accelerate to 4 g’s, but can also develop circuit lengths and short air gaps aid any length to accommodate the needed
eddy currents at speeds over 1 m/sec. It the efficiency and force capability. travel distance.
is ideal for vacuum applications. The cylindrical design aids acceler-
Brushless, epoxy-core linear motor ation, which ranges from 1,000 to
is also non-ferrous with its epoxy- 1,500 ft/sec2 . The working gap length, duce flux. The armature seeks a posi-
based core. It too, provides smooth or circumference of the armature, is tion of least reluctance and attempts
motion. It has an advantage over alu- long versus the amount of material in to remain in that position. The force
minum in that it does not experience the armature. A 600 lb force output needed to move the armature, with
eddy currents at high speed. It has version demonstrated speeds to 90 the coils off, is the detent force, which
low stiffness (typically 35,000 N/mm) in./sec. The force/mass ratio was cannot be completely eliminated in
at high coil temperatures (to 125 C) 1,360 ft/sec 2 . Maximum velocity is these motors. It can be varied over a
and it tends to give off gases in high limited by the drive voltage available range of about 5 to 15% of the maxi-
vacuum environments. and the travel distance, Figure 17. mum force capability.
Brushless, steel-core linear motor These motors can be synchronized Low detent motors are available.
uses steel lamination in the main with the electrical sequencing of the Reducing the detent involves the
body of the primary to enclose the cop- field coils. This ability provides con- same techniques used in dc motors to
per windings. This motor uses a sin- trolled velocity, acceleration, and po- reduce cogging, i.e. use of smaller
gle-sided magnet assembly and is air sitioning without additional sensors. pitch for the coils and magnets, a
or water cooled for high duty cycle ap- They achieve high detent forces larger pole width relative to pitch, a
plications. It functions well in appli- through the permanent magnet de- larger air gap, or skewing the stator
cations that require such duty cycles sign and very small air gaps. Detent poles relative to the armature. Gener-
and velocities up to 200 ips (5 m/sec). forces are the result of changes in the ally, however, lowering the detent
But this motor is subject to cogging. It reluctance of the magnetic circuit in force increases motor size and cost.
can generate strong magnetic attrac- the linear motor. Permanent mag- These techniques also tend to reduce
tion between the two motor parts, nets, even with the coils off, still pro- the force capability of the motor, re-
which must be accounted
for in the load carrying ca- 84 in.
pacity of the bearing sys-
48 in.
tem. Typical applications Roller bearing
Linear motor
are machine tools where Out stop assembly 2X
high force, 5,000 lb (23,000
In position (in stop) Armature (piston)
N), may be required, or in
general automation where
speed of several m/sec is
needed, 120 to 200 ips (3 to
Ø5.0
5 m/sec). 32 in. travel
Moving-magnet linear Ø9.75 Ø9.0 Hall sensors
motors. This motor is a
special case of a linear force
motor. It uses an uncon-
ventional magnetic circuit Roller bearing assembly, rotated 90°
in a cylindrical armature,
similar to the shape of hydraulic and Figure 17 — This cylinder shaped linear actuator can develop 1,800 lb of force with a
pneumatic actuators, and a three- travel of 32 in.

1
997 Power Transmission Design A283
quiring the use of a larger motor for a equivalent rotary conversion systems. method is to provide not one flat sur-
given force. • Long stroke. Travel length is lim- face, but two, butted at an angle to
These motors are suited to applica- ited only by platen length — and in- each other to form one V-shaped way.
tions requiring high acceleration, syn- creasing length does not lessen per- A companion V-shaped way mates
chronized speed or acceleration, and formance. with it. A variation of this technique
high detent forces and reliability. • Multiple motion. By overlapping uses a continuous V-shaped way with
Linear step motor. This motor, trajectories, more than one forcer can companion wheels or sheaves with
Figure 18, provides the same incre- operate on one platen at one time. mating circumferential cross sections.
mental point-to-point precision as its They roll on and are guided by the
rotating counterpart. way. The wheels, however, make such
A linear step motor has a toothed,
BEARINGS a system a rolling-element system.
magnetic pole structure on the stator As with any other power transmis- Dovetail ways are another variation
(platen) and on the slider (forcer). sion system, a linear motion system of the V-shaped way.
Platen and forcer tooth structure al- must be supported and guided. Gen- By replacing the flat way with a
most match. For example, the platen erally, moving parts exert some force, cylinder with axis parallel to the di-
may have 11 teeth in the same length and the force must be resisted for the rection of motion and making the
in which the forcer has 10. By sequen- system to remain stable. That is the companion moving piece a cylindrical
tially energizing two coils that oper- chief reason for any bearing: It must rod, you create a sleeve bearing. Now,
ate in conjunction with a permanent bear a load. For information on bear- however, you can use short, well-
magnet (oriented parallel to the axis ings for rotary systems, see the Bear- aligned sleeve bearings in series to
of motion), the step motor can be ings Product Department in this support the linear-motion device.
made to move in one-quarter-tooth- handbook. Such a bearing looks like the sleeve
pitch increments. You can get ex- Linear-motion bearings are of bearing used to support and guide ro-
tremely fine resolution (to 25,000 many types, some much like rotary tary motion. However, it supports ax-
steps/in.) with microstep controls. bearings. One of the most common ial motion, and the mechanics of mo-
tion may differ. A major difference:
the hydrodynamic oil-film “wedge”
that develops between a rotating
shaft and a sleeve bearing above a
certain minimum rotary speed isn’t
there when the shaft moves axially.
Well-lubricated linear-motion sleeve
bearings can serve well at low speed.
Chief among the differences in lin-
ear sleeve bearings are type of bear-
ing material. Common bearing
bronzes are often used, and so are
graphites. So, too, are metal sleeve
Figure 18—Linear step motor works on bearings with solid-lubricant inserts.
same principle as rotary step motor. Here, ways to classify bearings is by type of Another type is the ceramic linear
four sets of teeth on forcer are spaced in bearing-to-load contact: bearing—a metal sleeve coated with a
quadrature so only one set at a time lines
up with any set of platen teeth.
• Plain bearings. Surfaces slide on hard ceramic. Solid plastic or metal-
each other or on a lubricant film be- backed plastic sleeve bearings are
tween them. also in common linear-bearing use.
Linear step motors are well-suited • Rolling-element bearings. Ele- Rolling-element bearings. You
for positioning applications requiring ments such as balls or rollers between can gain the advantage of lower
high acceleration and high-speed, moving surfaces provide the lower re- rolling friction and, thus, higher
low-mass moves. Motor systems offer: sistance of rolling friction instead of speed capacity by substituting
• High throughput. Linear step sliding friction. rolling-element linear bearings for
motors are capable of speeds to 100 Plain bearings. The simplest lin- plain linear bearings, much like you
ips, and low forcer mass allows fast ear-motion plain bearing to visualize can with rotary bearings. For exam-
acceleration. is the flat way, perhaps the oldest de- ple, you can put rolling elements be-
• Mechanical simplicity. vice that lets one machine element, tween the simple flat-way plain mat-
• Reliability. Few moving parts such as the bed of a planer, move eas- ing surfaces to reduce friction. With
and in some models, air bearings, ily on another. However, it is also dif- proper restraining systems, the ele-
make for long life and low mainte- ficult to make well, because nearly ments could be balls or rollers. Like-
nance compared with rotary systems. perfect flatness is hard to maintain wise for more complex systems such
• Precise open-loop operation. Lin- over a long distance. Early machine as V and dovetail ways. Ball, roller,
ear systems allow open-loop unidirec- ways were hand-scraped by crafts- and crossed-roller systems are in ser-
tional repeatability to 1 micron men to remove high spots. The flat vice there. Also, the flat way bearing
(0.00004 in.). way must also have a means to keep can become more like a box beam with
• Small work envelope. Most linear the payload from running off due to cam-follower bearings or similar
step motors need less space than any transverse load. A common bearings on two or more sides to guide

A284 1997 Power Transmission Design

 Perhaps the plain bearing.
s i mp l e s t An example of a more complex
rolling-ele- rolling element linear bearing is a
ment linear “smart” bearing, Figure 21. The
bearing is the smart designation comes from this
linear ball bearing’s ability to recognize types of
bearing. Fig- misalignment and to self-align
ures 19 and 20 around any or all of three axes inde-
show a basic pendently. It can handle load capaci-
arrangement, ties without giving up the ability to
with recircu- absorb torsional misalignment with
lating balls no increase in stress levels.
Figure 19—Principle of recirculating that travel an oblong path. A linear Each double-track bearing plate in-
linear ball bearing. ball bearing has

Machine housing Bearing plate

Ring

Balls

Shafting surface

Figure 22 — Schematic axial cross section shows how bearing

plate can self-align (“pitch”) about curved inner surface of
Figure 20—Typical linear ball bearing.
three or more ob- hardened ring.
Retainer guides balls and keeps them from
dropping out should bearing be removed long circuits of
from shaft. balls. Each cir-
Ring inner surface Double track
cuit holds balls in Load
& balls
a carriage along the length of the one of it straight
beam. All these devices are used suc- sides in rolling
cessfully in various applications, de- contact between
pending on precision, complexity, and the shaft and the Bearing
plate
cost constraints. bearing race. The
load rolls
along the
Recirculation tracks
balls in this
part of the
Ring side of circuit. Balls
bearing plate
in the rest of
the circuit re-
circulate Figure 23— Double-track bearing plates have ring-side curvature
freely in the that lets them self-align (“roll”) to distribute load evenly on their
clearance in ball tracks.
the sleeve. A
retainer Center of rotation for bearing plate Bearing plate
guides the
balls and
keeps them
from falling
Ring
out if the
bearing is re-
Shaft side of bearing plate
moved from
with double load track
the shaft.
Figure 21— A transparent version of the The retainer
Super Smart Ball Bushing bearing shows makes the linear
provisions for high capacity and for pitch, ball bearing as
roll, and yaw. Steady-state speed can be easy to handle Figure 24 — Each bearing plate can turn about its geometric plan
up to 3 m/sec; coefficient of friction, down
and install as a center to prevent skewing relative to shaft surface (“yaw”).
to 0.001.

1
997 Power Transmission Design A285
 25

26

dividually compensates for three bearing is forced into

types of misalignment: an interference-fit
• It compensates for shaft angular housing.
deflection or misaligned housing bore, Some linear ball
or pitch, Figure 22. bearings have “rolling
• It evenly distributes load on its keyways.” Balls roll in
two ball tracks, compensating for roll, a semicircular-cross-
Figure 23. section axial groove to
• It rotates on a radial axis to elim- prevent rotation of the
inate skewing between ball tracks entire bearing unit on
and shaft, or yaw, Figure 24. the shaft. This is
Self-alignment minimizes friction, much like a ball
which holds performance and bearing spline, but with only
life and simplifies installation. one ball channel.
Life expectancy and shaft hardness A variation of the
influence load capacity of a linear Figure 27 — Cylindrical rollers provide
bearing-and-shaft combination. Cir- higher load capacity than balls, because
cumferential positioning of load-car- they are in theoretical line contact instead
rying working tracks relative to ap- of point contact. Linear roller way here is
plied-load direction is important. Life a rolling guide unit. Cylindrical rollers run
on a track rail to get endless linear motion
expectancy (travel life) is expressed
while circulating in a slide unit.
as total inches of linear movement be-
tween bearing and shaft. Manufactur-
ers’ catalogs give normal and maxi-
mum rolling load ratings. Generally, linear ball bearing is the linear-and-
they are based on travel life of 2 mil- rotary unit, made up of a sleeve that
lion in. Table 2 and Figures 25 and 26 holds a cylindrical array of balls in
show a way to compute expected life. contact between the shaft and hous-
A linear ball bearing may form a ing. It permits individual or simulta-
continuous cylinder around a shaft, or Figure 26 — Load correction factor for neous linear and rotary movement—
it may have an axial split that lets it linear ball bearings based on shaft a combination needed in many
be preloaded on the shaft when the hardness. applications.
Precise, high-load, linear travel can
be gained in many applications by lin-
Figure 25 — ear roller bearings instead of ball
Load bearings. Rollers pass over a flat
correction channel, rolling in line contact be-
factor for tween channel and load. At the end of
linear ball the channel, rollers recirculate, run-
bearings
ning unloaded behind the channel to
based on
required return between channel and load.
travel life. Roller skewing could cause insta-
bility and high friction. To prevent it,
precise roller end guides, central sta-

A286 1997 Power Transmission Design

bilizer bands, or similar means are and resolution of the position-mea- provides position and speed informa-
provided. suring equipment. For example, with tion. Criteria for high accuracy are
Dynamic load capacity of linear the ac linear servomotor shown in straightness and evenness of rack and
roller bearings is generally quoted in Figure 14, it is possible to position pinion.
terms of L10 life for a given travel life,
within Ϯ1 increment of the encoder Interferential optical encoder sys-
such as 10 million in. system. tems are for applications demanding
The linear measuring system very high accuracy and resolution.
shown in Figure 14 is generic. It could Laser interferometer measuring sys-
CONTROLS serve many kinds of linear motion tems can offer resolution of 0.01 ␮m.
Some sensing devices, such as prox- systems, and it could be: Common applications are inspection
imity switches, work equally well for • An optical linear encoder. Here a machines, extreme-precision machine
rotary or linear systems. Others, such scanning unit consists of a light tools, and wafer-slicing machines for
as linear variable differential trans- source, photovoltaic cells, condensing semiconductor manufacturing. These
formers, optical linear encoders, and lens, and grating reticule. On a linear devices require special consideration of
force transducers, are especially for motor, it usually mounts on the pri- the lasers’ environment, such as air
linear application. mary unit. It moves relative to a lin- temperature, pressure, and cleanliness.
Much control technology applicable ear scale with line grating, producing A growing tendency among linear-
to rotary motion systems applies as sinusoidal signals. The controller motion-device suppliers is to offer
well to linear systems. Digital micro- counts the resulting signals to estab- complete systems as well as compo-
processing allows it. For example, lish position and speed. nents for linear motion. You can get
programmable controls and computer • An encoder system using cable some systems that include the actua-
software simplify motion control and and pulley. With an industrial rotary tor, its bearings, framework, drive
permit simultaneously controlled mo- encoder having a pulley on its shaft and control, and sensors for control
tion in many degrees of freedom. A and a tension-controlled cable, you and safety limits. You need only bolt
case in point is a multiaxis position- can sense position and speed. the system down and wire it up. Little
ing system that includes rotary as • Rack-and-pinion encoder system. or no adjustment or tuning may be
well as linear movement. Here, a gear rack transmits linear needed.
In many complex linear motion sys- movement. A pinion rotates as its For more about control compo-
tems today, quality of movement de- meshing rack moves. A rotary en- nents, see the Controls and Sensors
pends essentially on system stiffness coder couples to the pinion shaft and Department in this handbook. ■

1
997 Power Transmission Design A287