December 19, 2011 - Heason Technology's H series linear actuators are aimed at OEM positioning applications in automated manufacturing and test equipment. With seven selectable travel ranges from 25mm to 300mm, commercial or precision grade positioning options and a choice of integrated or separate stepper motor/drive combinations, the H series actuator features a modular and smart design that provides a flexible mounting system for XY, XYZ and Gantry systems as well as telescopically arranged linear axes for extended Z-axis travel. The H series actuator design is based on an extruded profile housing with T-slots that facilitate multi-axis actuator mounting, optional limit switches and customer fixtures.
A fixed cover plate provides additional protection and is arranged to allow unrestricted carriage travel. The carriage, which may be moving or fixed, is supported by a sturdy linear guide bearing for maximum rigidity and a choice of commercial or precision grade leadscrews are available to suit application performance and budget. A flexible coupling and anti-backlash nut arrangement guarantees high stiffness with repeatability stated at 0.2 microns for the commercial grade option and 0.1 microns for the precision grade version.
Extremely compact multi-axis configuration is possible using Heason Technology's recommended DSMS series stepper motors which have integrated microstepping drives for much reduced system wiring. With up to 51,200 steps/rev the maximum positioning resolution is 2 microns with traverse speeds to 170 mm/sec. Separate motor and microstepping drive combinations are available which can include through shafts for rear mounted manual knobs – or stages may be fully manually driven. Heason Technology can provide fully customised systems based on the H series using its in-house design service. Bespoke options may include encoders for position verification or servomotor driven systems, alternative pitch leadscrews or ballscrews, and chain type cable management.
Motion controllers suited to the H series include Baldor’s NextMove-ESB-2 panel mount motion controller. With up to 4 axes of stepper or servo control, digital and analogue I/O, memory and optional HMI interfacing, the controller features the widely used MINT multitasking BASIC programming - or may be programmed with embedded ‘C’ or ActiveX components for host controlled applications. The ESB-2 includes simple-to-advanced motion control from point-to-point axis moves to interpolated compound moves that are synchronised with I/O events or external encoders. The controller can work as a stand-alone machine controller or with PLCs and other PC based machine control systems.
