The same advice parents give college-age children about charge cards holds as well for the credit-card-thin rail of THK's latest linear motion guide: handle with care. For certain manufacturers of equipment in the semiconductor, biomedical and communications sectors though, the latest micro LM guide from THK, the RSR 1, may be an answer to their needs for space-saving design.
The RSR 1 is actually the smallest in the company's line of micro guides that also includes 2- and 3-mm-wide rails. The 3 mm version was introduced several years ago, according to engineering manager Yoshi Oishi, and has since gone into mass production. The 1 mm RSR 1 version is ready for manufacturing now, Oishi says.
Compared with linear guides that use bushings, friction on the device is very low, Oishi says, about an order of magnitude less than those competing designs. Less wear, less heat and less lubrication finish the comparison. Starting and running resistances are very close to each other, he adds, especially when compared with those of sliding mechanisms.
Making the small guide isn't easy, requiring special jigs for assembly and dexterous machines to handle the 0.4-mm-diameter balls. The company is developing a compatible series of ball screws to match the diminutive guides.
Height on the smallest of the three guides is 2.5 mm, while the 2- and 3-mm-rail-width versions stand 3.2 and 4 mm high, respectively. Martensite stainless steel provides corrosion resistance.
THK can now claim the world's smallest and largest linear guides, Oishi says, with rail widths from 1 to 300 mm.
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 Thin 1-mm rails support a tiny carriage which the manufacturer says is ideal for precise movement in the smallest instruments. The device features minimal rolling resistance and a four way equal load rating. |
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CONTACT: Marketing, THK
e-mail:
chicago@thk.com
http://rbi.ims.ca/4913-531
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