Lintech 140 Series Belt drive

The Lintech 140 series linear actuators are designed to handle lighter loads at very high speeds. These linear slides use a low friction, preloaded, recirculating linear ball bearing system, which rides on a single precision ground linear square rail. The linear profile rail is mounted to a precision machined aluminum base, which offers a rigid support over the entire travel of the table’s carriage. The load is mounted to a precision machined aluminum carriage, which has threaded stainless steel inserts for high strength and wear life. The drive system uses two pulleys, along a high strength, steel reinforced polyurethane belt and provides 3.543 inches (90mm) of linear movement per revolution of the input shaft. The simple belt tensioning system allows for easy adjustment of belt tension by the user. NEMA 23 & 34 motor mounts, or gearhead mounts are available as well as planetary gearheads.

So, if you are looking for a longer travel, lower cost system but need a little more in the way of moment load capability and/or repeatability than is offered by other systems utilizing guide wheels or plastic bearings of some sort, then the Lintech 140 series might be a product you should consider.

Lintech 120 Series Belt Drive

The 120 series linear slides are designed to handle lighter loads at very high speeds. The table can actually carry up to about 3,000lbs. However, moving the load at a higher rate of speed requires more considerations. The 120 linear tables use a low friction, preloaded, recirculating linear ball bearing system, which ride on precision ground linear square rails. The linear profile rails are mounted to a precision machined aluminum base, which offers a rigid support over the entire travel of the table’s carriage. The load is mounted to a precision machined aluminum carriage, which has threaded stainless steel inserts for high strength and wear life. The drive system uses two pulleys, along with a high strength, steel reinforced polyurethane belt, which provides 3.543 inches (90mm) of linear movement per revolution of the input shaft. The simple belt tensioning system allows for easy adjustment of belt tension by the user. NEMA 23 and 34 motor mounts, or gearhead mounts are available as well as planetary gearheads.

For more information on Lintech’s various belt drive products, please check at http://www.LintechMotion.com.

Linear Bearing Life Calculator

There are many factors which impact how long a bearing of any type is going to survive. Like many materials, however, after a number of times that it is stressed, it will fail. This is your starting point when trying to calculate a reasonable travel life. It is not an exact calculation but a “reasonable expectation”.

There are many ways in which linear bearings will be utilized. Often, a linear rail may have more than one bearing block to support a given load. Lintech provides the tools to calculate estimated life for all kinds of loading in catalogs and online. However, Lintech also offers an online calculator for “quickly” determining the expected life of a linear rail with 2 blocks on it.

Any life calculations available for bearings help to predict how long a particular arrangement will survive the steel “flexing”. However, then it is helpful to examine factors beyond the calculation which could reduce that predicted life. Factors such as contamination, environmental conditions, misalignment, vibration, electrical currents, improper lubrication, temperature extremes, etc. Having any of these factors present eliminates reasonably predicting life. So, it is best to examine the potential conditions of an application and to reduce or eliminate any factor which could negatively impact the bearing life. factors present eliminates reasonably predicting life. So, it is best to examine the potential conditions of an application and to reduce or eliminate any factor which could negatively impact the bearing life.

Lintech 180 Series Belt Driven Table

The Lintech 180 series belt drive is a great general purpose option for a belt drive as it is very reasonably priced and has a load capacity up to 8400 lbs. when you select the 4 bearing carriage option. It is only 75mm tall and 152mm wide. There are numerous standard travel options but there is always the ability to specify something custom.

As usual, Lintech offers any and all of the “bells & whistles” necessary to finish the system including motors, controls, gearheads, switches, etc. Generally, these accessories are all available within a 2-4 weeks lead-time. So, if your application calls for a belt drive due to higher speeds, long travel or another factor, take a look at the 180 series. Lintech also has the 120, 140 and 550 series belt drives to suit different capacities or size constraints.

Turcite vs. Acme Style Lead Screw Nuts

Lintech offers different types of sliding element nuts in linear table screw driven systems. The terms “lead” screw and “ACME” screw are talked about frequently. An ACME screw refers to a specific thread form which is trapezoidal in shape. A lead screw refers to screws which utilize nuts which do not have rolling elements. They are just sliding on the screw. An ACME screw is a type of lead screw. Lintech offers ACME style lead screws as well as lead screws which incorporate the shape of thread used for ball screws. Lintech will utilize Turcite, a polymer material shaped to mate to the ball screw form.

Utilizing a Turcite nut on a ball screw form produces a drive mechanism that has less friction than an acme screw, thus potentially allowing for higher speeds and less input torque required from an attached motor for a given application. It provides smooth motion, low audible noise, and is ideal for vertical applications. Also, using the Turcite nut with high lead ball screws provides for faster linear speeds. A “downside” or maybe a benefit of an ACME screw HAS more friction. So, in vertical applications, it may be the design of choice because in a situation where power is “lost”, the friction could possibly hold the load in position vs. a “free fall” which is a potential problem.

Lintech Supplied Rotary Encoders

If a rotary encoder is supplied by Lintech, it is shipped installed on the ball screw assembly opposite the motor mount end. This rotary encoder is shaftless and id physically mounted to the screw shaft extension. WARNING – It is important NOT to remove the rotary encoder from the ball screw assembly. Removing it will void its warranty. The glass disk is pre-aligned by Lintech for proper operation. Removing the encoder could affect its performance. The encoder is protected with a sheet metal cover, which is not totally sealed. Therefore, if splashing fluid or other materials is present, precautions should be made to redirect these items away from the encoder housing since contaminants which penetrate the housing can cause encoder failure.

Lintech tables can also be supplied with linear encoders. Should you be interested in more information with regards to Lintech tables and/or encoders, please contact Lintech (www.LinTechMotion.com).

Motion Control “Accuracy” Considerations

There are a couple of important terms pertaining to motion control positioning which sometimes get lumped together under the term accuracy.

Accuracy versus Repeatability:

Lintech Custom Assemblies

Lintech has been in the business of manufacturing customized linear motion assemblies for many years. The assemblies can be simple modifications to a standard Lintech table or they could be to construct an idea from scratch. One system made by Lintech was an X-Y-Z vision inspection station. It was designed where the X axis was mounted to a steel plate, while the Y & Z axes were mounted on a bridge configuration. All three axes have square linear guides, precision ball screws and linear encoders. The X axis had waycovers to protect the linear guides and ball screw from debris.

If you are tasked with the responsibility of designing a custom motion system for automating some task, contact Lintech with your requirements.

Profile Rail Bearing Substitutes

Many companies use linear guide profile rails (square rails) in applications to obtain precision linear motion. The initial design selection process in choosing the correct rail solution can often entail a long study of different products, sizes and configurations to obtain the most efficient product for the particular application.  Some linear motion applications are less demanding or may be less critical and do not require the long testing process leading up to selection. Anyway, companies sometimes get to the point where they may want to try alternatives or they feel forced to do so due to price, availability, or an application problem requiring a better solution.

There are some basic critical elements to review before selecting an interchange. These are as follows:

• Rail and block height dimensions
• Bolt hole size and spacing on the block and rail
• Load capacity in all critical orientations – load is based upon a given life which varies by manufacturer.

The above bullets determine the basic pass/fail for an interchange. Beyond that, you need to understand the desire for change and how it might be solved with the replacement chosen.

Lintech offers HRC, ARC & MR linear guides. These guides are very well priced, have a myriad of options which can be utilized to solve application problems, and the lead-time is very short. They often match up with the 3 basic pass/fail elements with respect to other manufacturer’s linear guides.

If you have some motivation to solve an application problem, want to have better product availability or you would like to investigate lower cost alternatives for linear guides, contact Lintech.

550 Series Belt Drive

In addition, Lintech can size for motors, gearheads, attach multiple axes or incorporate additional accessories.