Eichenberger has developed the cold-rolled ball screw type F. Thanks to its ingenious, highly sophisticated ball return system, it sets new standards in many respects, especially in terms of price.
Full steam ahead with innovation
Designers are regularly faced with the task of determining the appropriate drive technology for the realization of linear movements. Rolled screw drives have established themselves enormously in linear automation and there is no way around the cold-formed spindles. Eichenberger - incidentally, we are the only manufacturer of rolled ball screws in Switzerland - serves a wide range of industries, from medical, electrical and automotive engineering to the textile and building industries, automation and general mechanical engineering and even aerospace.
The customer is always in focus
"The secret of success is to understand the other person's point of view." Henry Ford
As a thread specialist, unusual thread forms are the challenges we seek. Eichenberger's design engineers listen to the customer and understand their concerns. Answers are sought and found in a consultative, solution-oriented dialog. The competitive and successful ideas of their partners and the associated inspiring discussions are Eichenberger's driving force for new developments. Quality begins with a focus on the customer and ends with their satisfaction. Today, a technological edge and higher performance density are required, while investment costs tend to be reduced. This scenario also applies to the development of the type F ball screw.
Characteristics: Extremely cost-optimized
Innovation from experience: The new Carry ball screw type F
At Eichenberger, development, production and quality assurance come from a single source. The short distances "in house" and the modern machinery enable maximum flexibility and strengthen the innovation process. For example, the design engineers succeeded in developing a new, efficient manufacturing process that allows the production of a special ball screw nut with an extremely sophisticated deflection system in just one operation. The new type F ball screw, a further development of the Carry ball screw, was born. Looking at this masterpiece, the basic idea seems plausible. However, Eichenberger's core manufacturing skills conceal special features that create real advantages.
With this deflection system, spindles with diameters from 6 to 40 mm and pitches from 2 to 40 mm are available.
Old ideas rethought
In ball screw drives, the load is transferred from the screw to the nut by balls. The mechanical efficiency, which generally does not exceed 0.4 with conventional trapezoidal screw drives, exceeds 0.9 with the KGT. The associated energy efficiency makes the lead screw one of the most widely used drive components. The nut is equipped with a return system that steers the balls back to their starting position.
In the type F ball screw drive, the balls in the return system leave the thread channel in the nut and are caught by a special, highly sophisticated, precise recess in the cap, deflected directly and returned through the nut body. In the end cap, the ball is again deflected into the thread, where it "engages" in order to fulfill its intended task of load transmission with low rolling friction. It is essential that the balls roll smoothly and silently as they pass from the nut into the deflection channel. And they do. The ingenious design of the nut body combined with state-of-the-art, fully automated manufacturing methods results in an amazingly cost-optimized product.
The cold-rolled type F delivers what it promises
Under competitive conditions, customers always opt for the supplier that offers them the greatest benefit. Nowadays, there is a tendency to demand smaller spindles with larger pitches and then speak of "square" (pitch ≙ spindle diameter) and even "oversquare" spindles. With the new deflection system, spindles with a diameter of 6 to 40 mm are available with pitches of 2 to 40 mm. The ball deflection element integrated in type F, made of high-performance plastic, was also developed for large quantities and can be produced at an extremely attractive price thanks to a cost-saving manufacturing process. The quality features are based on endurance tests at maximum speed and maximum load. These confirm the outstanding performance of the new deflection system.
The core competencies of Eichenberger Gewinde AG lie in thread rolling and hardening. The increase in strength resulting from cold forming is not as important in the manufacture of ball screws as it is in the manufacture of lead screws. Much more important is the continuity of the ball screw profile, which is transferred to the spindle by the full profile of the extremely stable thread rolling tools. Equally important is the extremely finely compacted surface in the profile. This fineness (roughness values ~ Rz 1.0) offers little contact surface for dirt and also ensures that the balls roll quietly. The smooth surface and the rolling motion of the balls reduce friction and thus significantly increase efficiency. This in turn allows a low drive torque with low self-heating. The reduced drive power required thus reduces operating costs.
