The competition for bright minds, young talent and skilled workers has also arrived in industry and automation. Find out how cold-formed ballscrews from Eichenberger create special superpowers so that women, for example, can get involved and impress in a typically male domain - where muscle power and endurance are often required. The thread specialist from Switzerland never ceases to surprise with innovative developments that enable completely new drive solutions. With the Ironhand®, for example, five application-optimized screw drives give a special glove enormous gripping power.
Gender equality in the workplace takes time - in the meantime, a Swiss threading professional is ensuring the balance of gripping power between men and women
A lot has happened in terms of career choices in recent decades, but women and men are still far from being on an equal footing. Today's challenges focus on work-life balance, equal pay, unpaid work, equal opportunities in management positions and gender-independent careers. Promoting equal opportunities means breaking down existing barriers and developing supportive measures. In order to attract young women and men to industrial professions, modern companies are critically examining their attitudes to gender stereotypes.
Anyone interested in a profession should not be confused by role models
There are still fields of work that are seen as "typically" female or male, although it has long been clear that technical competence has nothing to do with gender. Certainly, however, it is often the obvious heavy, physical demands that are the reason for gender-specific selection in certain professions.
Even today, choosing a gender-atypical career often means swimming against the tide. If you want to learn an "atypical" profession, you need strong self-confidence. Fortunately, some girls, boys and companies such as Eichenberger Gewinde AG from Burg / CH are already proving that it works. In any case, all players need to be open and society needs to be sensitive to the implications of the concept of equality.
Women in construction - more power in the hands with ball screws from Eichenberger Gewinde AG
Yes, there is still a lot of room for reform when it comes to equal rights. However, the Swiss threading professional Eichenberger is already ensuring a balance in grip strength between men and women. In many industries, advanced mechanization and digitalization mean that modern machines are often already performing physically demanding work or providing relief. This is also the case with the Ironhand® robotic glove. Quiet, slim and extremely resilient ball screw drives completely eliminate the disadvantage of women's anatomical difference in strength.
Ironhand® reinforces the human grip with the help of patented SEM™ technology. The function of Ironhand® is similar to that of our hands. A hand grip is normally initiated by the muscles of the forearm and hand. These muscles pull the tendons that extend from the five fingers. Ironhand® works in the same way: the pressure-sensitive sensors in the fingertips of the glove detect when the user grasps an object. A microcomputer calculates the required power. Servomotors drive the five delicate, robust cold-rolled ball screws 5 x 2 mm (Ø 5 mm, pitch 2 mm). These are connected to the fingers of the glove by thin wire strings. The fine connections move the fingers and the additional force is generated by the slim glove. The higher the pressure on the sensors, the more power the glove delivers. Ironhand® therefore recognizes how the user grasps an object and adapts the gripping movement intuitively and automatically.
Five Swiss heroes for women's power
The glove is available in four different sizes and can be worn by left and right-handed users. The battery pack, which is worn like a rucksack, contains both a computer unit and the ball screw drives with the motor that breathe life into the individual phalanges. It is the five ball screw drives that convert the rotary motion of the small servomotors into a clean linear motion. The impressive efficiency of over 94 % ensures optimum drive performance.
Small installation space often poses a challenge with high loads. Silent movements in the smallest of spaces are required. This is exactly how the Swedish manufacturer Bioservo Technologies describes the requirements for the ball screw drives, which embody the mechanical drive elements of the Ironhand fingers. High positioning accuracy with the smallest strokes and high dynamics in continuous operation must be mastered. The focus is on safety and reliability. Maintenance intervals, service life and, last but not least, costs play a key role.
At Eichenberger Gewinde AG, products that are comparable in terms of dimensions or quality perform better than expected. Through individual design or special manufacturing processes, the thread professional adapts its products to the application and makes the impossible possible. This results in products that bring customers' innovations to the forefront of the market. The cold-formed, induction-hardened Ironhand® ball screws in the 5 x 2 mm dimension combine speed, precision and minimal space requirements. In addition, the ideal lead ratio of the spindle increases the efficiency of the movement. The "five Swiss heroes", each with three ingenious single-gear feedback systems built into the nut, also impress with their low weight and increase the cost-effectiveness of the overall solution.
Women and technology - a perfect match - ball screws make it easy
Ironhand® mimics the user's grip movements and adds strength and endurance to the grip. This extra power relieves muscle strain and conserves worker energy, improving productivity and well-being at the end of a shift.
With this "magic hand", a woman, for example, can effortlessly carry out intensive, highly repetitive and/or static work. The robotic glove has already been tested in various industries. In the handling sector, for example, where cables are stripped, crimped or cut manually using pliers, Ironhand® helps the operator by reducing the effort required for the work. It provides support when objects have to be held for a long time, for example during glass installations. When heavy equipment such as grinders, screwdrivers or even pneumatic hammers are used on construction sites, the Ironhand® provides unique strength. Women's power when cutting metal with angle grinders or when unloading and loading cardboard parts in logistics - the fields of application are diverse. The Ironhand handle reinforcement makes it possible for women to master all these jobs just as well.
Users can preset various programs. Eichenberger's ball screws move the fingers with extreme precision and positional accuracy. Ironhand® distinguishes between the following combinations of movements: sensor sensitivity, force, finger symmetry and locking tendency. To change the profiles, simply press a button on the remote control located in the chest area. These settings make it possible to react flexibly to different requirements over the course of a working day. For example, if you carry out lightly strenuous tasks in the morning and have activities that put a lot of strain on your muscles in the afternoon. This also allows different users to work with one system. The system can provide a maximum grip force of 80 N within milliseconds.
One step ahead with the right technology partner
Eichenberger Gewinde AG ventures into exotic materials, thread forms or dimensions that lie outside the norm. Unusual geometries, proprietary interfaces, special materials and hardening processes offer impressive extras. The company manufactures the necessary tools itself. In this way, the thread professional guarantees a short time-to-market for application-optimized products of the highest precision and cost-effectiveness.
For the application, we have carried out our Inspiration Check, in which we work together with the customer to find the ideal solution. If you are interested, you can here to find out more or get in touch with us Contact us on.
With a passion for perfect movement, Eichenberger Gewinde AG breathes life into this magic hand. Together with Bioservo Technologies, Eichenberger has developed the perfect screw drive solution for it. Bioservo is a global leader in the field of soft exoskeletons and motor support, focusing on the hand and other extremities of the upper body. Mr. Martin Remning Wahlstedt, Development Director BIOSERVO, is enthusiastic about the thread professional from Switzerland: "Five electrically driven, cold-rolled ball screws form the heart of the Ironhand® kit. They convert the rotary motion of the small motors into a linear motion and ensure - for us - a surprisingly good drive performance. Thanks to these fine, lightweight yet very reliable and precise drive components, we were able to develop an efficient, easy-to-carry control unit that fits perfectly into the backpack.
What makes the Carry ball screw drive so resilient and the ideal functional element for this application?
Thread rolling produces very precise geometries with a high surface quality. The usual manufacturing processes for threads such as milling, turning or whirling are machining processes. These have the disadvantage that they interrupt the grain flow of the steel. On the other hand, thread rolling is a non-cutting process that does not cut the longitudinal fibers, but merely diverts them. At the same time, the surface in the profile hardens. This "smooth surface" offers little opportunity for dirt to accumulate. This is crucial for a long service life and also enables the balls to roll quietly. Cold forming also results in very good roughness values (~ Rz 1.0) on the thread flanks and in the base radius.
