Reliable lead screw technology for a precise and sensitive joystick control system

"We use metal recirculating ball screws for our joystick. They were relatively expensive, noisy and the behaviour of the lead screw was never 100 percent satisfactory for us. We have been working successfully with igus® for over 20 years, and when Axel Ebert visited us again, he presented a new igus® lead screw with a new type of lead screw nut. He raved about the many advantages of the system at the time, so we tested it a short time later - and what can I say, we were thrilled from the start!", recalls the Head of Mechanical Engineering. The dryspin® lead screw technology was specially developed by igus® in 2015 and is based on the principle of lubrication-free and maintenance-free linear technology. The specifications and geometries of the lead screw technology, which are matched to the plastic nut and lead screw, guarantee efficiency levels of up to 82 per cent and a service life that is up to 30 per cent longer than conventional lead screw drives. Axel Ebert, Key Account Manager for Bearing Technology at igus® Switzerland, explains: "The rounded tooth flank geometry reduces the contact surface between the lead screw and lead screw nut, which means that the threaded systems run almost noiselessly and vibration-free under load." So the decision in favour of dryspin® was quickly made. However, the special requirement of reducing the clearance of the nut still had to be solved. But here, too, igus® was able to provide a remedy.

The solution: the zero-backlash lead screw nut. A preload mechanism has proven to be an effective measure for reducing unwanted axial clearance. The zero-backlash lead screw nut proposed by Axel Ebert is also used here. It is specially designed for fast and efficient applications and consists of a support nut, an adjusting ring with torsion spring, a friction disc and the axial element. The torsion spring brings the preload into the thread system. "The joystick uses two lead screws. With the ball screw used in the past, the two bearing sides had to be exactly aligned in order to guarantee smooth operation of the lead screw. Not so with the igus® lead screw, which has a fixed bearing at the bottom and a floating bearing with some clearance at the top thanks to an iglidur® plain bearing. As a result, we achieve a much higher degree of efficiency and a much better feel during the movements," states BRUNNER and Ebert adds: "The zero-backlash nuts used are an igus® standard catalogue item. All dimensions are available from stock. The lead screws themselves are manufactured by us according to BRUNNER's requirements and drawings." In addition to the lead screw and the nut, BRUNNER also uses iglidur® plain bearings and drylin® R linear plain bearings from igus® for the moving applications.