When machine designers integrate crossed roller linear guides into their systems, they often face a trade-off between ensuring load capacity and dealing with the risk of cage creep. This article explores how to address these challenges effectively.
Crossed roller guides, as the name implies, use alternating cylindrical rollers encased in cages, positioned between V-shaped track grooves that allow loading in multiple directions. The cage keeps the rollers separated to minimize friction, ensuring smooth and precise linear motion.
However, in traditional crossed roller assemblies, cage creep can become a problem over time. This issue is especially common in vertical setups, where gravity causes the cage to drift, leading to issues like skidding, hitting end stops, or even damage to the machine. This drift can result in cage wear, bending, cracking, or unexpected machine downtime.
To tackle the issue of cage creep, many linear guide manufacturers have introduced anti-creep mechanisms. One popular solution is adding a rack-and-pinion system to maintain the cage's position, which also supports higher speeds. However, not all crossed roller guides are equipped to handle heavy loads.
IKO has enhanced this design by improving the rigidity of its bearings, making its CRWG…H Series crossed roller linear guides capable of supporting greater loads. By reducing the pitch between the rollers, more rollers can be incorporated into the assembly, increasing overall rigidity. This results in dynamic load capacities ranging from 525N to 35,700N depending on the size.
With IKO’s innovative design, machine designers can now incorporate crossed roller linear guides that prevent cage creep while simultaneously supporting greater loads, minimizing machine size, and extending operational life.
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