Product category:
Positioning stages - linear, rotary, multi-axis
News Release from: Aerotech | Subject: High performance linear positioning stage
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 31 January 2006
Direct-drive linear stage works in
hostile areas
Positioning stage combines direct-drive performance, innovative protection and concealed cable management for a neat solution to hostile environment production applications.
Aerotech's ALS1000 high performance linear positioning stage features direct-drive brushless servo technology and long-life linear motion guide bearings to provide micron level accuracy and repeatability with a 50kg load rating and a travel range up to 450mm The compact, low profile stage is fully sealed for harsh manufacturing environments and an internal and fully protected, two-axis cable management system routes motor power and feedback signals to a central connection point for straightforward X-Y table installation and a very smart appearance
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The ALS1000 is particularly suited for high-accuracy/high-throughput industrial automation applications such as laser machining, rapid prototyping and EDM where fast and precise positioning is usually performed within fairly hostile environments.
Providing the accuracy and speed performance for these demanding high-throughput applications, the stage is driven by Aerotech's BLMC series cog-free brushless linear servomotor that provides excellent speed and position control for tightly synchronised applications such as velocity profiling or multi-axis contouring.
With its non-magnetic forcer, zero backlash and zero wind-up, the friction free BLMC drive allows excellent system response and in-position stability.
Further reading
Sealed gantry handling system avoids dirt ingress
A sealed version of a linear motor driven, X-Y gantry system is particularly suited to applications such as high throughput laser machining and welding.
Open frame air bearing stage has long life
An open frame air bearing stage provides the specification for through-aperture step and scan positioning and uses preloaded air bearings, direct-drive linear motors and high resolution encoders.
Low profile rotary stage offers high speed
A low profile, high speed, compact rotary stage provides a solution for compact positioning spindle applications and operates at up to 15,000 deg/s.
Non-contact linear encoders provide feedback with positioning resolution from 0.005 micron to 1.0 micron depending upon the choice of line driver or amplified sine-wave output.
With five standard travel ranges of 100mm, 150mm, 200mm, 300mm and 450mm, the ALS1000 can reach a maximum speed of 750mm/s with acceleration to 2G (20m/s2) for 1.0 micron resolution stages.
Linear accuracy ranges from +/-4.0 micron for the 100mm travel option to +/-18.0 micron for the 450 mm unit.
An optional accuracy of +/-1.0 micron across all travel ranges can be supplied upon request with Aerotech's Halar option.
Halar optimised stages are pre-calibrated for accuracy and repeatability against a laser interferometer reference and the resulting error map information is added to the motion control system.
Guaranteed specifications for straightness and flatness are within 3.0 micron per 25mm of travel and angular pitch and yaw deviation are within comparable tolerances for such high precision positioning equipment.
The ALS1000 makes full use of precision linear motion guide bearings with wiper seals and grease fittings to provide optimum stiffness for a central horizontal loading of 50.0 kg with a 25.0kg side loading capability.
The 'hard top' design uses an aluminium plate and a side seal arrangement that resists swarf and debris from contaminating the inside of the stage.
This design has proven much more effective than traditional 'top seal' linear stage designs that typically have plastic or fabric bellows and are generally not adequate to fully protect in laser machining environments.
The protection plate and tabletop have a Teflon impregnated hardcoat with a scratch-resistant, Rockwell 62 hardness, finish that provides durability and outstanding protection.
For the most extreme environments, an optional air-purge fitting is available that allows clean air to internally pressurise the stage (or X-Y configuration) and prevent debris from entering the stage.
The ALS1000 can be supplied with or without a tabletop and further options include metric or imperial mounting hole patterns and alternative stage finishes including electroless nickel plating suited for medical applications or as a protective coating for ESD machining.
For X-Y-Z or X-Y-Z-Theta applications, an external cable management system is available to cater for power and feedback requirements for the Z and Theta axes.
External cable management can also be provided on the base axis of X-Y configurations if required.
When compared to ball screw driven linear stages, the low profile and compact design of the ALS1000 has a much smaller footprint with fewer components and further benefits from significant cost of ownership related factors such as a faster throughput performance, reduced maintenance, longer life and simplified installation.
Complementing all of their high-performance mechanical positioning systems, Aerotech manufactures a wide range of servo amplifiers and advanced motion controllers including the A3200 Digital Automation Platform.
This breakthrough, software based machine control system combines motion, HMI, PLC and vision control modules with an industry standard Firewire high performance communication network for up to 32 axes of high speed motion; additionally a 10/100 Base T Ethernet interface may be used to add third party I/O and PLCs.
Other control solutions include the Soloist, a single axis digital servo controller with integral power supply and brushless servo amplifier.
As an Ethernet based distributed drive solution, the Soloist can perform coordinated point to point motion for up to 1000 axes.
Complete systems include all motor power and encoder cables plus performance and calibration related documents and a CD containing interconnection drawings to help integrators with their own system documentation; all motor parameter set-up data for system configuration is included, making commissioning straightforward.
These features are standard for every Aerotech system and with full product training and comprehensive on-line technical support, the true cost of ownership is extremely competitive. Request a free brochure from Aerotech ...
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