Latest Insights in the Evolving Digital World
Linear Slides for Easy Motion
You are sitting in a dark tunnel, when suddenly the mining cart you are sitting in takes of and goes flying down a large hill, ripping around corners, soaring up and down, making your adrenaline rise and your stomach fall. If you cannot completely imagine the scenario, you could easily pick your favorite movie consisting of a scene such as this. Maybe Indiana Jones or Harry Potter? The reason I want you to think of these situations is it is a slightly more exciting transition into our next topic, linear slides. If you picture these large carts and carriages, they are often sliding along on wheels on a metal surface or railing. Linear slides can be thought of as the metal railings these large carts would slide down. However, instead of the wheels, ball bearings are used. The slides work much like the railings in that they dictate exactly where the carriage will go.
Product Photo Courtesy of Del-Tron Precision, Inc.
Linear slides play a very important role in today’s industries, serving clean room operating systems, robotic assembly machinery, automatic packaging equipment and CNC machining equipment. Precision eyeglass assembly, instrumentation and specialized processes are also able to take advantage of this product. Linear slides are used to provide back and forth motion along a single plane in one direction. Some newer models are able to move along multiple axes, but the idea is the same, to move objects from one point to another more easily. Another easy example to consider is filing cabinets. The drawers are able to slide in and out easily, moving only in these directions. They can only move along the line of motion provided, but they allow for quick and efficient movement. The average linear slide is composed of a stationary base, a carriage or platform and a linear rail of bearings. The carriage is able to move back and forth, sliding along the bearings. The base provides the mechanism with a very strict range on motion, allowing it only to go where it wants the devise to go.
Product Photo Courtesy of Tusk Direct, Inc.
When choosing the right linear stage for your application, important things to consider will mainly center around the type of environment your product is exposed to. Cast iron, aluminum and stainless steel are popular material options that are durable and strong, making them able to withstand a lot of stress. Stainless steel provides additional protection from elements such as humidity and corrosion from being exposed to moisture. Protective housing may also be added to the systems to prevent dust or debris from interfering with the process. Exposure to these items can increase the wear on both the ball bearings and the slides and they make the machine run less efficiently. Another solution to this problem is the use of machine ways, which are able to wipe the slide clean before the carriage passes over it. Because the ball bearings are the direct point of contact with the carriage, they tend to wear more quickly than the slides themselves. The slides absorb less stress making them a cost-effective and low maintenance piece of equipment ideal for countless applications.