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Reliable leadscra,v
applications depend not only
on proper selection, but also
on coruect installation and
alignment to eliminate
axis loads. "tr
Rotrert Lipsett
Engineering Manager
Ball Screurn & Actuators Co.
San Jose, Calif.

eadscrews are an effi-

Some rules of good leadscrew design cient and often cost-
effective means to
Rule 1: Use leadscrews for axial thrust only. convert rotary motion
to linear motion. Products in-
corporating leadscrews range
from garage-door openers to
precision laser-positioning
systems. With such a wide
range of applications, compo-
nent selection can be a chal-
lenge, but this is only step
one. Leadscrews must also be
carefully installed and
Rule 2: Use linear guides to support all other loads. aligned.
Misalignrnent may cause
problems such as binding,
torque spikes, increased
wear, vibration, audible
noise, and lower accuracy.
This is because leadscrews
create only axial thrust and
aren't able to tolerate lat-
eral (side) or moment loads.
Rule 3: Linear guides and the leadscrew must be aligned parallel. Lateral loads act at an angle
to the screw axis (center-
line) while moment loads
act parallel to but at a dis-
tance from the screw axis.
Properly installed and
aligned linear guides can
help eliminate off-axis loads
and moments, whereas mis-
aligned guides may create
them. What steps are taken
to achieve proper alignment
depend on leadscrew preci-
sion. To determine lead-

112 MACHINE DESIGN MARCH 9, 2OOO http: //urww. mach i nedesi gn. com
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Twi n-ra i I precision stage

Screw and bearing assembly

High-precision,
twin-rail stages use Linear bearings carnage
a fixed reference
rail to align a
parallel floating rail.
The preloaded
ground ball screw
floats perpendicular
to its axis in two
directions during Reference
assembly. The
screw ends are
forced to center by
the carriage then
bolted down. The
arrangernent
requires no
measurements for Floating
alignment.

Two degrees of freedom at

each end for screw alignment

screw precision, first look at lead-nut-to-screw
clearances.
For lower-accuracy systems, the nut-to-screw
radial (lateral) and axial clearances may each be
about 0.005 to 0.010 in. To prevent misalign-
ment-related issues, the nut must not deviate
from coaxial alignment with the screw by more
than half this amount. But trying to keep the nut
from deflecting more than t0.0025 in. with close-
tolerance frames and guide rails may not be prac-
tical. This is because the tolerances of the sup-
port structure, guides, and movable carriage add
together creating what's called tolerance stack
up. One way to minimtze the stack-up problem is
to make the system adjustable, although this
complicates assembly. Another involves elimi-
nating tolerance stack up altogether by "design-
ing out" certain bolted surfaces. Here, the sup-
port structure for both the guide rails and screw
are machined from a single piece of material.
Also, the carriage-mounted nut holder is ma-
misalignment problems. Assemblies are instead
referenced to a single flat surface or edge such as
one of the linear guide rails. Straightness of
travel is then a function of how accurately a ref-
erence rail conforms to its mating surface.
One such system works like this: Linear bear-
ings, rigidly attached to a translating carriage,
force a second floating rail into parallel align-
ment with the fixed one. The screw assembly
floats laterally with two degrees of freedom at
each end. The lead nut (fixed to the carriage)
forces the screw to center during assembly. Once
aligned, the screw ends are bolted in position.
When set up properly, the carriage will run par-
allel to the reference edge without binding. r.
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For some higher-accuracy systems, however,
no measurable clearance between the lead nut
and screw is permitted. In these cases, ad-
justable, tight-tolerance frames and guide rails
alone may not eliminate screw binding and other
what,,,,,,;:;i:';::,;;',::;;:;seecovered?
What additional information on this topic would you
find useful?

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