Telescoping Ball Screws for a Primary Aerospace Manufacturer
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The 3 sets of telescoping ball screws highlighted here were manufactured for an aerospace customer, and though its ultimate use is unknown, its quality and precision manufacturing are evident. Emcor Incorporated was contracted to manufacture telescoping ball screw assemblies which are part of a prototype system. The system uses a combination of left and right hand ground screws with integral ball nuts relying on block style return systems. A primary input drive shaft drives all stages at one time with smooth extension and retraction to any position. Initial testing has proved successful with positive feedback on design and manufacturing.
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Telescoping Ball Screws for a Primary Aerospace Manufacturer Highlights
- Product Description
- Telescoping ball screw for prototype system.
- Processes
- Each inner stage ball screw required inner and outer thread grinding to create an integrated unit which reduces the operating envelope and total weight.
- Tolerances
- Ball thread grind tolerance of +/-.0001
- Materials
- 17-4 PH for ball screw, nut, and return system
Materials heat treated to meet design and customer performance targets.
- Manufacturing
- Special support and grinding solutions were developed to maintain the concentricity required to grind a ball nut that is integral to a ball screw. These processes consistently produce a unit which operates as designed, and without excessive hand blending and return system adjustments which would be required in a telescoping unit produced with standard thread grinding operations.
- Assembly
- Ball selection is adjusted to ensure equal preloading and extension of all stages with the same input torque.
- Engineering Assistance
- Ball screw load and life calculations
Telescoping ball screw design
Return system design
Limited design envelope modifications with space management
Additional Information
- Industry
- Aerospace
- Diameter and length
- 2.500" main body diameter x 24" extended length
- Pitch
- 5mm right and left hand combination