Making light work of heavy loads

Machine designers can sometimes be spoilt for choice when it comes to sourcing the individual components for small applications, however when it comes to high payloads and/or extended travel distances, Güdel’s heavy-duty range of linear-motion components come into their own.

When designing machinery incorporating linear motion, designers have many options at the smaller end of the spectrum. However, when the loads reach the hundreds of kilos range, and the travel lengths start creeping into multiple metres, then the options available to them become a little more limited. 

It’s in applications such as these where machine designers benefits from Gudel’s linear component sets. The company manufactures two separate ranges of linear components, one for loads up to 16Kn, and a separate heavy duty set which will handle dynamic loads up to 40Kn.

The mid-range linear component set is based around angled linear rails with prismatic cam-rollers. The rails can be mounted directly onto a machine frame, or alternatively onto a machined fabricated beam, and the rollers can either be mounted directly to a customer’s own machine carriage, or there is a standard Güdel carriage available. If required, drive can be provided by a rack and pinion system. The main advantage of this approach is the fact that the linear bearings are sealed cam-rollers, making the whole arrangement very forgiving within harsh operating environments. 

Read the full article in the April issue of DPA