Guides reduce design and assembly time

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 11, 2005

Two new products from THK provide a unique and innovative set of solutions to help machine builders and OEMs in the packaging sector reduce design and assembly time as well as cost.

Two new products from THK provide a unique and innovative set of solutions to help machine builders and OEMs in the packaging sector reduce design and assembly time as well as cost.

In addition, the new products offer exceptional levels of accuracy and reliability and are virtually maintenance free, with extended an operating life.

The new SCR linear motion guide has been developed as an integrated platform for enabling loads or packs to be moved and positioned quickly and precisely in x and y axes, such as might be found on pack feed and transfer systems.

The SCR is essentially constructed from SHS type THK LM guides, in single or parallel multiple sets, mounted perpendicular to each other to form an x-y table base.

The fully integrated unit guarantees smooth consistent motion at high speeds, is extremely accurate, typically to within 2um in every 100mm of travel, and provides an extremely stable platform on which to construct linear motion systems.

The cross rail structure enables the guideway to make complex planar movements, and use of THK Caged Ball technology ensures low variation in rolling resistance and long term maintenance free operation.

Using the SCR, packaging machine builders and OEMs can now specify one complete unit, as opposed to separate guides, rails and mounting blocks.

In addition to saving design and specification time, the new product also significantly reduces assembly time and eliminates potential problems of misalignment in the x and y axes.

The HMG multi-motion guide is a completely new and innovative carriage and rail production system, that can be used by OEMs and also for upgrading existing systems to reduce costs and increase productivity.

Typical applications include pack assembly or erection lines and pack filling and sealing systems.

Another THK innovation, the HMG system, comprises a series of modular track or rail sections with the load being carried on the latest specification THK linear guide platforms.

Track sections are available in a wide range of lengths, widths and straight and curved formats, enabling almost any configuration of production track to be constructed, with single or multiple carriages or blocks being used to move and position workpieces allowing variable capacity.

Typical track configurations are circular, U-shaped, L-shaped or S-shaped.

In each case, it is possible to make considerable savings in design and construction time and cost.

For example, a conventional rectangular production track typically incorporates a turntable at each corner to re-align pallets or workpieces; using the HMG system the turntable units can be replaced with a simple curved section of track, allowing linear motion carriages to move in a continuous path.

Similarly, several rails can be mounted in parallel, while heavier loads can be accommodated by using multiple rails or carriages.

Unlike traditional production track equipment, the HMG system uses purpose designed linear motion components to ensure that each carriage moves consistently and accurately regardless of the set-up of the rail.

This eliminates potential variations in tolerances between different sections of track and ensures a smooth, almost frictionless motion, with positional accuracy of within +/-0.1mm.

The HMG linear motion guides are robust, high performance units and are capable of being loaded in radial, reverse-radial and lateral directions, with a maximum static load rating of 66.7kN on a single carriage.

They are low maintenance and have a long operating life.