Linear actuator on the up and up

Hoerbiga-Origa's new OSE-BV linear actuator is based on the belt drive principle and is designed so that the carriage is fixed and the cylinder moves - the reverse of the normal configuration. The load is most likely to be positioned at the lower end of the cylinder, but other locations can be accommodated easily, including, for example, pick-and-place robot gripper jaws. The carriage contains the drive motor (typically a servo, but stepper and induction motors are also available), gearbox and drive shaft that form the prime mover of the actuator. The carriage also houses a pair of idler wheels, over which the drive belt passes to engage with the drive shaft. In typical fashion, the belt extends the length of the cylinder; in this case, the pulleys at both ends act as idlers rather than being driven. An integral ball bearing guide ensures smooth motion of the actuator. The advantages of the OSE-BV are its compactness and its low dynamic weight because the relatively heavy carriage forms a static load. These factors enable high speed operations to be sustained, especially in high volume packaging lines and means that the space envelope required, even for a multi-axis system, is minimal. The units come in 20mm and 25mm bore sizes, with larger versions up to 64mm in the pipeline for early 2006. 500mm is the standard stroke length but custom lengths can be accommodated up to 1,000mm and beyond.