Reliance Gear Company has supplied precision miniature lead screws to a
manufacturer of elemental analysis instruments, which measure the
wavelength of light absorbed by the sample under test. Light is passed
though a monochromator, which must be accurately 'tuned' in order to give
a true reading. This is accomplished by the lead screw, which drives the
monochromator prism with high levels of accuracy and repeatability. More
recently, Reliance provided the manufacturer with a cost and space saving
alternative to this arrangement, in the form of a screw rail, which
offers a drive and bearing surface in one.