Hybrid Stepper Actuators are electromechanical devices that incorporate a rotary hybrid stepper motor with a rotary-to-linear device (typically a Lead Screw) to impart motion to linear axes. Adopted in the 1980’s, hybrid stepper motors excel in compact machines requiring simplicity. Pre-integrated hybrid stepper actuators take the ease of application further to allow design engineers to preconfigure subsystems to actual stroke, speed and force requirements.
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Some motion applications need axes to deliver both linear and rotary motion. Conventional designs for such functionality are often complicated and bulky. What’s more, rotary motors put to linear motion often have output shafts that are inadequate for supporting heavy side loads.
Brushed dc and brushless dc motors must be compatible with and satisfy critical motion-system parameters. These include the application voltage supply, overall footprint, target design life, continuous speed, and continuous torque requirements.
Leadscrews — especially those with high-accuracy threads — can be a low-vibration alternative to other linear-motion options. That’s in part because of the consistent contact between their load-bearing mating subcomponents.
In many devices lead screw assemblies are used to convert motion from rotary to linear and vice versa. Historically these assemblies have had poor efficiencies and relied on grease for improved performance. Over the past few decades the advent of engineered polymers and new manufacturing capabilities have changed the game for the conventional lead screw assembly making it a powerful solution for motion based design challenges. At first glance lead screw assemblies seem rudimentary, but they are designed to perform a very specific function, and even with the latest developments in materials and manufacturing processes having a basic understanding of how lead screws operate can be the difference between a successful design and catastrophic failure.
Pressure velocity (PV) is a fundamental property of all plastics, and is specific to the composition of the plastic. PV for a lead screw application is a calculated value based on load and surface speed of the interface between the leadscrew and nut. Manufacturers now have the ability to mold in reinforcement and lubrication materials which allow loading of polymers to far exceed the capabilities of plastic nuts in the past. These factors have changed the way that PV is calculated by engineers, and allow leadscrew assemblies to enter into applications, where only a few decades ago a leadscrew and nut would never be successful. The following will explain PV and why it is important, basic example for calculating PV in a leadscrew application, and what happens when the PV of a material is exceeded.
This white paper will discuss methods of selecting the best Stepper Drive for motion control applications requiring a Stepper Motor or a Stepper-Based Linear Actuator; information about the typical types of Drives; effects of different applied voltage levels; and of various Drive settings / options for operation.
