Caged roller guides carry on quietly

Two new caged roller products aim to provide exceptional levels of rigidity and load carrying capacity in a wide range of applications, including industrial automation systems and machine tools.

Two new caged roller products are designed to provide exceptional levels of rigidity and load carrying capacity in a wide range of applications, including industrial automation systems and machine tools.

Called the SRG and SRN, the latest linear motion guides from THK have been developed to overcome the limitations of conventional roller guides, while increasing still further the levels of overall performance, in terms of operating speed, rolling resistance and maintenance costs.

Conventional non-caged linear systems vary from the basic track and wheels, through needle roller technology to true linear roller recirculating systems using full complement designs.

Comparatively, the THK caged roller gives previously unattainable levels of performance in maintenance-free long life, rigid roller based LM guides, with the closest ever control on the fundamental issues of roller skewing.

The latest THK caged roller guides are based on the same proven technology used in the company's patented caged ball linear motion systems, with the steel ball arrangement being replaced with a series of caged rollers.

These act between the block and rail, arranged at a 45-degree contact angle, and circulate within a cage with a series of retaining plates, thereby ensuring that the rollers are permanently maintained in a uniform arrangement and cannot become misaligned.

Perhaps as importantly, the caged roller unit allows lubricating grease to be both applied evenly across the face of individual rollers and retained between rollers at all times; as a result long term maintenance can be virtually eliminated, while operating life is considerably extended.

Compared with conventional roller bearing products, the latest THK caged roller systems offer up to 38% greater radial stiffness and over 40% more lateral stiffness.

In addition, they provide considerably lower levels of friction, can be used at both high and low speeds, with equal degrees of accuracy, and are almost silent in operation being around 6dB quieter than counterparts.

Both the SRG and SRN caged roller guides are designed for high load applications, with static load capacities of up to 599kN, with the SRN being a low profile unit for use in areas where space is restricted.

Both products are available in a range of sizes and with varying options, including end and side seals to prevent moisture, dust or other contaminants entering the block, scraper mechanisms for removing larger debris from the rail and QZ lubrication systems to maximise on lubrication and minimum maintenance.

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