What is a Lead Screw Pitch?
By Shizu Yamaguchi So, you want to know what a lead screw pitch is. We’ll dive into that here and define a few additional terms related to lead screws. Pitch The pitch of a...
Category: Linear Motion
Efficiency and effectiveness: Is there a difference and how are they calculated?
By Zoe Moser In general, efficiency indicates the effectiveness of a device when conversion losses are taken into account. Efficiency, abbreviated with a small eta (η), describes the relation between the delivered power (effective...
What You Should Know About Lubricating Plastic Threads
By Zoe Moser Even though our plastic components don’t require any external lubricants, people still want to know if they can use WD-40 or another lubricant on them. This article is intended to emphasize...
Ball Screw vs Lead Screw: How to Choose the Right One
By Matt Mowry Within the world of linear motion, screw-driven actuators are one of the most commonly used devices when converting the rotary motion of a motor (stepper, BLDC, servo, DC) into a linear...
How can I recognize my lead screw’s thread direction?
By Zoe Moser The thread cutting direction right or left can be easily determined with a visual inspection. If you look at the lead screw from the front, you can best see the difference...
Extend the Reach of a Universal Robot with a 7th Axis
By Adriana Glazer Sooner or later, the issue of extending the reach of robots for working efficiently will arise. In this article our focus will be on the 7th axis (or linear axis) for...
How to Choose a Linear Actuator
By Thomas Urbach Screw-driven or belt-driven linear actuator? Linear actuators are an important element in automation and mechanical engineering and help with a variety of tasks, from simple to extremely complex ones. Picking the right one is...
Hidden Ways Linear Plain Bearings Can Save Cost
By Matt Mowry We often talk about how much more cost-effective linear plain bearings are compared to linear ball bearing systems. This is mainly due to the different techniques that are used within the manufacturing process...
What Are the Different Types of RV Slide Out Mechanisms?
By Avory Brookins Image: By Claygate at en.wikipedia – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14390773 It’s obvious why RV slides ‒ also known as slide outs, pop outs or bump outs ‒ would be beneficial...
How Do Plastic Linear Plain Bearings Work Without Lubrication?
By Matt Mowry Some of us understand the difference between a recirculating ball bearing and a linear plain bearing, but you might not be as familiar with how linear plain bearings actually work to...