Ball Screw Or Rack And Pinion
C0 through c5 are ground ball screws where the screw is ground for precise channel depth for the ball nut ball bearings to ride in.
Ball screw or rack and pinion. The constant stability of precision ground helical rack and pinion systems allows our cncs to run however long is needed. The fixed cost of the drive system and the relatively low cost of cold rolled steel and gear rack make the cost per foot of travel highly competitive for larger travels. We find the rack and pinion systems to be extremely efficient durable and easy to service. There are many different grades of ball screws c0 though c10 which determine accuracy and repeatability see chart to the left.
It is a design where the teeth of a steel pinion gear are pushed into the teeth of a steel rack. Rack n pinion explained most machines in this price category use strait rack n pinion to drive the axes. Comparing performance and efficiency of linear motors ball screws and rack and pinion drives. For smaller motion applications z axis height positioning a ball screw system is used.
For the short distance precision the ball screw fits perfectly. Indeed in theory a 10 single start acme. Rps preloaders precisely move the pinion into the rack and establish a small preload. Routerbob goes over the differences of rack and pinion versus ball screw technology and describes where the advantages disadvantages are.
We often get about the pros and cons of the two methods. Rack n pinion rack n pinion explained most machines in this price category use strait rack n pinion to drive the axes. Accuracy many people assume acme is more accurate than r p as a screw drive typically has more resolution than our r p units. Electronic preloading of rack and pinion drives yields backlash free motion with minimal friction.
Rps flange adapters allow flange mount pinions to mount to one reducer frame size larger than they would directly bolt to. Both the precision ball screw and rack and pinion systems excel in their own specific ways. Let s look at ball screw and helical rack and pinion drives more closely. The new fmt patriot cnc router sold through plastimach and the cnc router store features ball screw drives on the xy and z axes.
Park uses the latest helical rack and pinion drive systems for most applications including length and width travel axis y and x.