A brief overview of what a linear stepper motor is
A linear stepper motor is a device that provides power and motion through linear motion. A linear stepper motor uses a stepper motor as a rotational power source. Instead of a shaft, there is a precision nut with threads inside the motor. The shaft is replaced by a screw, and when the motor rotates, linear motion is achieved directly through the nut and screw. In this way the rotational motion is converted into linear motion inside the motor. His small size, high resolution and high accuracy make it ideal for precision positioning applications.
Basic components
The power source of the linear stepper motor is a conventional stepper motor. Subdivision of 1.8 degree and 0.9 degree step angle per step can be achieved depending on the type of motor. The motor can be made to run more smoothly by increasing the drive subdivision for later use.
♣Screw
Lead - the axial distance that any point on the thread moves along the same helix for one week of rotation, we also describe it as the distance of nut travel for one revolution of the motor
Pitch - the axial distance between two adjacent threads. The thread of a screw, depending on the angle of inclination (thread lead), converts a small rotational force into a large load capacity. A small lead provides greater thrust and resolution. A large lead can provide a smaller thrust force with a correspondingly faster linear speed.
The illustration shows different thread forms, small lead has high thrust but slow speed; large lead has high speed and low thrust.
♣Nut
The nut of the drive screw is an extremely important part of the linear motor, from the transmission can be divided into ordinary nuts and gap elimination nuts, the material can be divided into engineering plastic and metal (brass) two kinds of materials
Common nut - comprehensive consideration to maximize the drive efficiency of the screw stepper motor, so there will be a certain gap between the common nut and the screw, the gap belongs to the normal range (special requirements can also be adjusted within the effective range)
Gap elimination nut - gap elimination nut main features: axial 0 gap between the screw and the nut. If there is no clearance requirements, you can choose to eliminate the gap nut. As the gap elimination between the nut and the screw with special tightness, the resistance of the nut movement then becomes larger. So we should choose more than twice the torque of the ordinary nut motor when calculating the torque and making motor specification selection
Engineering plastic nuts - is currently the most commonly used on our precision instruments a nut material, with wear resistance, low noise, high transmission efficiency, often supporting the installation of some small volume, light load, high transmission efficiency of the screw motor (recommended to match the motor: 20.28.35.42)
Metal nuts (brass) - brass nuts are mainly characterized by good rigidity, can withstand higher than the engineering plastic nuts dozens of times more than the load. Often matched with some large load, high rigidity requirements of the screw motor (recommended to match the motor 42 or more)
Extended Motor Life
Vic-tech stepper motors can provide 10,000 hours of continuous smooth operation, and because stepper motors do not have brush wear, their service life is usually far longer than other mechanical parts in the equipment system (the least likely to break down in the equipment is the stepper motor). But some inferior stepper motors to reduce costs, after a period of time will appear demagnetization (thrust becomes smaller, positioning inaccuracy, etc.)
♣How to effectively extend the service life of the motor
In order to better extend the service life of the motor, we need to consider the following important parameters when we design the motor specifications.
Safety factor - A large number of tests and customer feedback show that the motor life increases as the load decreases. Therefore, the safety factor should be enlarged to several times as much as possible when complying with other data.
Operating environment - Environmental factors such as high humidity, corrosive rings, excessive dirt, debris and high heat can affect the life of the motor.
Mechanical installation - lateral loads and unbalanced loads will also affect motor life
♣Summary
The first step to maximize life is to choose a motor with a higher safety factor, the second step is to install the machinery to avoid or minimize lateral loads, unbalanced loads and shock loads to ensure good mechanical performance of the equipment. The third step is to ensure that the motor operating environment can effectively dissipate heat and good air flow around the motor.
If these simple but effective know principles are followed, linear stepper motors will ensure millions of times of reliable operation.
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Changzhou Vic-tech Motor Technology Co., Ltd. is a professional research and production organization focusing on motor research and development, overall solutions for motor applications, and processing and production of motor products. Ltd. has been specialized in manufacturing micro motors and accessories since 2011. Our main products: miniature stepper motors, gear motors, geared motors, underwater thrusters and motor drivers and controllers.
Our team has over 20 years of experience in designing, developing and manufacturing micro-motors, and can develop products and assist design customers according to special needs! At present, we mainly sell to customers in hundreds of countries in Asia, North America and Europe, such as USA, UK, Korea, Germany, Canada, Spain, etc. Our "integrity and reliability, quality-oriented" business philosophy, "customer first" value norms advocate performance-oriented innovation, collaboration, efficient spirit of enterprise, to establish a "build and share "The ultimate goal is to create maximum value for our customers.
Post time: Apr-19-2023