ball screw assemblies

Reprint of Danielle Collins post, Linear Motion Tips, on Friday, December 11, 2015

As an integral part of industrial machines and processes, ball screw assemblies often operate in environments with elevated temperatures. Heat can be generated by other mechanical and electrical components in the machine, and in some cases, is a byproduct of the process itself. And, like other motion products with sliding or rolling friction, ball screws generate heat of their own as they run. This heat, and especially the change in temperature that occurs...

The main function of Ball and Acme (Lead) Screw Assemblies is to provide a drive mechanism, usually within a positioning table, to move a load.  The drive mechanism is an element that contributes to position accuracy, repeatability, speed, and mechanical system resolution.
Ball Screws are the screw of choice for high duty cycle, high speed, and long life applications.  The ball screw nut uses one or more circuits of recirculating steel balls which roll between the nut and ball screw grooves, providing an efficient low friction mechanical drive system.  The nut, which is attached to the table carriage, moves back and forth in parallel with the linear bearing system as the ball screw rotates.  Using a higher lead ball screw (for example a 0.500 inch lead instead of a 0.200 inch lead) will offer greater carriage speed for applications requiring rapid traverse, or fast, short incremental moves.  Key features of a ball screw system are low wear and long...