Custom Curved Rail Gantry System
with Motorized Bridge or Cross Member Structure
For transporting light payloads we can design and manufacture custom curved rail systems. These are cost effective for Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEMs) that make a series of identical machines or instruments.
Why use this type of product?
Lightweight, less complicated, and space saving over a conventional multi-axis system.
These products are typically found in Scanning and Imaging Systems such as Medical Imaging instruments or Industrial Inspection systems.
Featured below: OEM custom Curved Rail Assembly for an X-ray Inspection System.
Custom Rail Motion Profile with Motorized Carriage
Application Details
Customer needed to slowly move an imaging camera across the surface of an electronic circuit board while gathering data for analysis.
We designed and manufactured a curved guide system to the required (customer provided) motion profile. In addition to the curved motion path the x-ray head needed to move in a linear fashion between the curved rails.
So we adapted a single axis linear actuator under the bridge (i.e., connection plate) between the two curved rails.
Capable of moving approximate
payload of 0.5 kg (~1.0 lb).
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Length
|
1020mm
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41 inches
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|
Width |
762mm
|
30 inches
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Height |
304mm
|
12 inches
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Motor and Drive System
The bridge or cross member beam is driven along the curved rail motion path via a Nema 23 size stepper motor. The back and forth linear motion under the cross member uses a NEMA 17stepper motor.
Several single axis motion controllers such as the Arcus Single Axis standalone USB Controller plus Driver, ACD-SDE, can be used for drive and control.
Motorized Carriage Assembly
Carriage plate is connected to the rail via three cam roller bearings. A polymer tire (yellow color in photos) installed over each bearing enables smooth quiet movement.
The motor is conveniently offset a short distance from the center of the carriage allowing the customer a large surface area (see blue arrow in the front view photo) for attaching their camera mechanism.
A camera, sensor, or other type of payload can easily be mounted to the carriage.
