German manufacturer Kammerer Gewindetechnik GmbH has developed ball screw drives with cooled nut for use in machine tools. The cooled nut makes it easier to cool the ball screw drive. This improves the precision and prolongs the service life of the ball screw drives permanently and enables machine tools to work at greater speeds and with greater precision.
In order to reduce heat generation during operation, Kammerer has continued development of its ball screw drives with driven nut. The choice of materials for the installed parts has been optimised in respect of thermal properties. To this end, particular consideration was given to the thermosymmetrical construction of the parts and thermal decoupling. Cooling of the axes and of the machine is variably controllable. The spring-biased stretching of the ball screw drives and the cooling bore in the spindle and nut minimise axis displacement. The linear shift of the axes is compensated by a direct path measuring system.
Besides reduced heat generation, the ball screw drives are also notable for generating less noise: The hard skiving process during production developed by Kammerer results in demonstrably reduced noise generation during operation. The drive concept for the driven cooled nut enables high linear speeds with a long effective stroke of the ball screw drives. Together with a steep pitch, it is possible to reach speeds of over 120 m/min, under ideal conditions rotating speeds as high as 4000 rpm are possible. This in turn means that cycle times can be improved in case of long travel lengths. The preloaded spindle system increases overall rigidity in the drivetrain. The bend-critical speed is unlimited. Spindles can be accelerated by up to 30 m/sec². And existing rotating speed limits can be raised further still by using hybrid bearings and ceramic balls. The increased dynamics of the ball screw drives directly increases the productivity of the machine tool.
Ball screw drives with cooled nut are available with diameters ranging from 16 mm to 160 mm with various pitches. Besides machine tools such as portal milling machines or broaching machines, possible application areas include plastic injection moulding machines, lifting and assembly equipment for aircraft and rail vehicles, and other lifting and hoisting devices. Kammerer ball screw drives are manufactured in Hornberg in the Black Forest and marketed all over the world.
Kammerer’s full product range includes ball screws, trapezoidal ball screws, custom assemblies and complete systems. Kammerer offers all manufacturing processes for the production of threads. The products are used throughout the world in machine tools, general mechanical engineering, precision engineering, handling automation, robotics, medical equipment, the automotive and aerospace industry.
Links:
Ball screw drives from Kammerer
English-language catalogue
