In common parlance, osteoarthritis is often mentioned in the same breath as ageing and wear and tear. Less thought is given to the fact that changes to cartilage are possible even at a younger age, for example in athletes with many injuries or with high physical stress at work. Furthermore, demographic change and increasing life expectancy are leading to longer working lives and the increasing decline in the birth rate is resulting in a shortage of skilled workers.
Which aids can provide relief for physically demanding activities in everyday life or at work? Find out how five robust, cold-rolled ball screw drives from Switzerland promote quality of life and well-being at work, for example. With their support, disadvantaged people can regain their strength and occupational illnesses caused by overloading can be reduced.
Higher demands require more expertise
Ball screw drives are widely used drive components for converting rotary motion (rotation) into linear motion (translation) due to their high efficiency of over 0.9η and the associated energy efficiency. Whether standard design or customized solution: Precision screw drives from Eichenberger are used in a wide range of industries and countless applications. The ideal drive solution is developed together with the customer in a constructive exchange and with customized services. In many cases, a conventional drive solution can be replaced by innovative technology. This also takes performance to a whole new level. Eichenberger's passion for perfect movement makes the thread professional creative. "In the midst of the difficulty lies the possibility", even for applications where a ball screw or lead screw would not have been considered as the perfect solution.
Osteoarthritis as an occupational disease
Aching hands, stiff fingers: osteoarthritis of the joints is by no means just a problem for the elderly. People in middle age also frequently suffer from the wear and tear disease. Many professions are associated with one-sided physical strain. This can lead to long-term health problems. For example, occupational efforts that involve constant kneeling, heavy lifting or carrying and one-sided movements are often associated with the occurrence of osteoarthritis. Work-related disorders of the neck and upper extremities affect the neck, shoulders, arms, hands, wrists and fingers, causing tingling, numbness, discomfort or pain. The use of vibrating tools can exacerbate these problems. The effects are reduced mobility or grip strength. Both can cause further hazards at work, for example if an employee can no longer hold or operate a tool safely. Across the EU, musculoskeletal disorders are the number one cause of sick leave and the number two cause of permanent disability.
Ball screw drives make it possible for people to go about their work in a long-term and healthy manner
For many people, a job is not just a necessary evil to secure their livelihood. No, having a job also means being in the middle of life, gaining self-affirmation through success, experiencing a regular daily routine and enjoyment through social contact. In osteoarthritis, for example, it is often only individual fingers that cause severe pain. Movements such as gripping tweezers, gripping pliers and clenching a fist no longer work properly. This has an enormous impact on a person's everyday life. It is usually helpful to relieve the joint as much as possible. Work design is therefore needed that offers employees the opportunity to relieve high physical demands and specifically reduces work-related stress.
The Ironhand system is the world's first active soft exoskeleton for the hand, developed to protect and improve the health of workers. This special glove owes its enormous gripping power to five quiet, slim but extremely resilient screw drives made in Switzerland. With the help of patented SEM™ technology, the robotic hand mimics the user's gripping movements. The cold-rolled ball screws from Eichenberger Gewinde AG give it strength and endurance. The system can provide a maximum gripping force of 80 N within milliseconds. Grip-intensive, repetitive and static tasks can be mastered with Ironhand® as if by magic.
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Our hands are miracles of nature - with Ironhand® they remain resilient
Our hands are true masterpieces of evolution, because only humans can bend the second phalanx of their thumb. This enables precise hand movements and exact coordination. Every grasp and grip is a highly complex process: 27 small bones and 15 joints work together precisely. These are connected by ligaments, tendons and 33 muscles. There are also nerves and blood vessels. Only the palm of the hand is protected by a robust tendon plate that allows a powerful grip. Nerve impulses activate the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles - all the individual parts of the hand interlock like cogwheels.
Ironhand® works in exactly the same way: the pressure-sensitive sensors in the fingertips of the glove detect when the user grasps an object. A microprocessor calculates the required power. At the heart of the Ironhand® kit are the electrically driven, application-optimized, very delicate 5 x 2 mm ball screws (Ø 5 mm, pitch 2 mm). They convert the rotary movement of the small motors into a linear movement - with an amazingly good efficiency of over 0.94η. The servomotors are connected to the fingers of the glove by thin wire strings. These 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.
This is where Eichenberger scores with his passion for perfect movement
The settings make it possible to react flexibly to different requirements over the course of the working day. For example, if you perform lightly strenuous tasks in the morning and activities that put a lot of strain on the muscles in the afternoon. This also allows different users to work with one system.
at the end of a shift are improved.
The right technology partner thinks around the corner
Small installation space often poses a challenge with high loads. Highest performance in the smallest space is required. This is exactly how the Swedish manufacturer, Bioservo Technologies AB, described Ironhand's 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 were the challenges. The focus was on safety and reliability. The maintenance intervals, service life and, last but not least, the costs played a decisive role.
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.
The cold-formed, induction-hardened Ironhand® ball screws, 5 x 2 mm, 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.
Innovative developments surprise and enable completely new drive solutions
Eichenberger challenges the limits of what is technically feasible in order to move the customer ahead of the competition. "The secret of success is to understand the other person's point of view". Eichenberger lives by this guiding principle and sees forward-looking action rather than reaction as a vital part of its corporate culture. The thread experts advise and inspire in order to implement ideas for a new product or a completely new type of drive. Making the impossible possible - the associated discussions are Eichenberger's driving force for new developments.
For the Ironhand®, Eichenberger's specially developed Inspiration check applied:
inspiring conversation with us. To help you get ahead of the competition,
we challenge the limits of what is technically feasible.
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. Thread rolling, on the other hand, 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.
