GAME TIME You ready for this? It's another round of our #MotionMonday madness, this time in crossword form about miniature linear guides! We're doing things a little different this week. Instead of having you read a page on our website, we wrote up a product primer right here. Read the blog on miniature linear slides, then test your memory with our custom crossword puzzle.
[ DOWNLOAD ] the crossword puzzle here ... FIRST 10 PEOPLE TO SUBMIT A CORRECTLY COMPLETED CROSSWORD TO jenniferw@bwc.com WILL WIN A BISHOP-WISECARVER COFFEE MUG WITH ORIGINAL ARTWORK CREATED BY OUR VERY OWN ARTISTS!
Still need an answer key? No shame — email jenniferw@bwc.com
A BIG NEED FOR SMALL LINEAR SLIDE SYSTEMS As engineers try to improve efficiency and lessen environmental impact, the need for miniature linear guides and slides continues to grow. Shrinking electronic packages and systems challenge design engineers to create more compact products.
This especially holds true in the electronics and semiconductor industries, our Project Engineer Brian Burke told us. Engineers need increasingly small linear guides for a wide range of uses, like counter-top medical contraptions, packaging machinery, converting equipment, machine guards or doors and smaller electro-mechanical gadgets.
HELLOOOOO MINVEE® We introduced the MinVee product line in 2005 for customers with smaller linear slide needs — a low-profile, high-load-bearing linear rail based on our patented DualVee Motion Technology® (commonly used in the packaging, medical, semiconductor and laboratory industries).
MinVee lets you build linear guides into a smaller product, Burke says. And that versatility opens countless doors in the world of motion control. This tiny linear slide can mount onto sheet metal housings, door frames, T-slot aluminum extrusions and so many other surfaces. Basically, Burke says, this little trooper of a linear slide is a godsend wherever space is at a premium.
PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:
- 6061-T6 anodized aluminum carriage (stainless steel lubricator housings and felt lubrication pads)
- Four size-0 DualVee integral studded wheels
- Carbon steel or polymer over-molded wheels with stainless steel bearings
- Service interval = 100km (62.1 miles at 23° C) and 50% humidity at stated load capacity
- Self-aligning track mounting shoulder for accurately positioning vee ways
- Double edge track design ensures parallel vee ways
- Pre-drilled track allows for immediate installation, no matching required
- Standard pre-drilled track have thru holes
- AISI 1045 carbon steel, hardened polished or unhardened as formed, oiled
- Custom track coating and plating options: black oxide, electroless and nickel
THAT'S A FULL PLATE The four DualVee guide wheels are made up of two concentric non-adjustable wheels and two eccentric adjustable wheels, Burke says. The eccentric wheels allow you to adjust the wheel plate to the track. Even with the track support, the MinVee wheel plate measures only 1.75 inches wide, 2 inches long and 0.788 inches tall from the mounting surface.
[ Click here ] to read more about our MinVee product launch.
NEW TRACK SUPPORT Last year, we launched an optional track support extrusion to make it easier and quicker to install and integrate these miniature linear slides. The track comes pre-drilled with clearance holes with a new support beam (available in single-piece lengths of up to 10 feet) but you could piece together as many as needed to support longer lengths. Basically, the new support makes it faster, easier and cheaper to assemble a small, compact linear guide because it comes with inherently parallel mounting surfaces and fewer components.
[ Click through ] to read more about this new-fangled track support.
[ Thirsty for more knowledge ] about our tiniest motion system? Check it out!
[ Click through ] to read more about this new-fangled track support.
[ Thirsty for more knowledge ] about our tiniest motion system? Check it out!
