Manufacturers of packaging line equipment, such as cardboard formers, packers and sealers, tray formers, palletizers and related machines, often choose high-precision linear rails with recirculating ball bearings.
However, this choice often raises the level of complexity and cost of the application: recirculating guides require extra precision in the installation phase. Packaging machines, which simply require reliable and repeatable linear motion, may be implemented more quickly and easily with linear ball-bearing guides.
For example, assembly applications with recirculating guides will require engineered plates to precisely align the guides for flatness and parallelism. This additional work will increase time and labor costs. If the rails are installed imperfectly, the precision bearings will be subjected to a constant load.
This will wear them out prematurely and lead to more frequent replacements. Manufacturers can solve this problem by paying more for larger bearings, but this will also increase the size and weight of the assembly, which will result in higher costs for power transmission and motion control. Or they can choose rails capable of handling misalignment in millimeters that do not require costly and complex adjustments.
In addition to processing and installation considerations, manufacturers of machines must also pay attention to the contamination-related risks to which the rolling elements of primary and secondary packaging machines are exposed.
In secondary packaging, dust from corrugated materials can easily collect on the rail and consequently accumulate inside the carrier block. This generates premature bearing wear and, in worst-case scenarios, will completely jam production, generating a stoppage and affecting costs. To learn more, see “Reducing wear on linear guides.”
Using recirculating ball bearing rails, such as Rollon's Compact Rail, in medium-precision applications can eliminate the additional processing and assembly costs typically associated with ball bearing slides. Compact Rail features large rolling elements, profiles that allow for some play, and easy preload adjustment that allows the slider degree of freedom to be defined precisely based on the application. With its ability to compensate for misalignment, Compact Rail is able to mitigate uneven load points that might otherwise promote wear and tear.
Ball bearings on the Compact Rail offer numerous advantages for packaging applications:
Unlike recirculating ball bearing rails, rails with roller bearings such as Compact Rail do not require costly and complex processing and assembly requirements from packaging machine manufacturers. Not only will they provide sufficient accuracy and precision for this type of application, but they will keep assembly time and cost in line with their objectives.
Watch the webinar on Compact Rail, the Rollon linear guide ideal for packaging applications