FASTENERS & SEALINGS
Dryspin leadscrew technology has found success in the rail sector
THE EVOLUTION OF THE TRAPEZOIDAL THREAD
How one company has given a new lease of life to traditional trapezoidal threads with its innovative thread technology
A
key component of mechanical engineering applications for decades, trapezoidal threads
convert rotational movement into linear motion. However, even the most reliable technologies have room for improvement, says Robert Day, dryspin product manager at Igus. “Working at Igus means daring to
take an industry standard component and say: It can be even better,” he says. Specialising in motion plastics, Igus initially developed and patented its dryspin thread technology in 1996 as an alternative to high helix pitch threads. Over 50 variations
are now available, ranging from matched screws and threaded nuts to dimensions with low pitches for quick one-to-one replacement of old trapezoidal threads. The company has applied its
dryspin technology to trapezoidal threads in order to provide longer service life, improved efficiency, reduced wear and quieter operation to applications. Day and his team have achieved this by optimising the interaction between the leadscrew and polymer threaded nut, resulting in a 30% longer service life and 82% improvement in efficiency. “You might ask yourself, what
difference does the geometry make to a leadscrew, and the answer is quite a lot,” he explains. “The dryspin geometry has flatter thread angles, rounded teeth, and is asymmetrical. The contact surface between the lead screw and the lead screw nut is reduced, which decreases noise and vibration. And, being asymmetrical rather than symmetrical means that we can increase the distance between the thread pitches of the screw, meaning more high-performance plastic and tribologically optimised material can be used in the second part of the lead screw for power optimisation, which reduces friction and wear.”
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