Helix Linear Technologies Blog | Articles, how-tos and information on the latest linear motion topics.

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ACME THREAD FORM TERMS The Acme thread form, established over 100 years ago, replaced square thread screws, which had straight-sided flanks and were difficult to manufacture.

Stepper motor driven screw linear actuators have been used for a while in a variety of applications. Integrated motor screw units used to only be available in high volume runs or too costly to consider. Building your own with expensive couplings and support bearings, mounting and aligning the assembly – add up to overwhelming costs.

Lead screws are the norm for today's linear motion applications. However, despite the lead screw's advantages over competing technologies (i.e., affordability, precision, the ability to design with freedom and reduced maintenance), all lead screw systems inherently have a certain amount of "play." Therefore, an important design consideration when utilizing a lead screw is the amount of backlash your system can tolerate while still achieving the project goal.

This lesson is a continuation of a series of lessons involved with learning about Stepper Motors and Servo Motors. If you haven’t already, please review our previously released lesson on, What is a Stepper Motor and How it works. In this lesson, we will discuss the Stepper Motor Advantages and Disadvantages compared to Servo Motors.

This short video shows you how to use Solidworks to mate a lead screw with a stepper motor.

Regardless of the details of any given application, there are some pretty important design considerations that should be addressed each and every time you are considering trapezoidal screws as a means of linear motion. In this post we will explore five critical questions that must be answered to achieve success.

A stepper motor is one of the most common motors used in motion control applications, primarily positioning applications.

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