Ball Screw Nut End Stops for Spring-Reset Rolling Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ball screws without recirculating paths for rolling elements often require complex mechanisms to maintain their position and allow limited travel, which can be cumbersome and inefficient, especially when converting rotational movement to linear movement.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a ball screw nut with end stops for springs within the nut, where the springs provide biasing forces to maintain and reset the position of rolling elements along the spindle, eliminating the need for recirculation and simplifying the mechanism by using bore holes as contact points for the springs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If conventional ball screws without recirculating paths are used, then the structure is simpler, but complex mechanisms are required to maintain position and allow limited travel
Solution Approach 1:
The spring automatically maintains rolling elements at the end of the raceway and resets them after load release without requiring external mechanisms. The ball screw nut self-regulates the position of rolling elements through the elastic force of the spring, eliminating the need for complex positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The ball screw nut is segmented into functional zones including the raceway, bore hole, and end stop regions. This segmentation allows the spring to be positioned specifically at the end of the raceway where it can effectively maintain and reset rolling elements without interfering with the main ball screw operation.
2Ease of operation
If springs are added to maintain rolling elements, then position maintenance is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring mechanism is merged with the ball screw nut structure by integrating it into the bore hole and raceway system. The end stop of the bore hole serves dual purposes as both a structural feature of the nut and as the contact point for the spring, eliminating the need for separate positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The bore hole serves multiple functions: it provides structural support to the ball screw nut, defines the position of the spring, and creates the end stop contact point. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components and simplifies the overall mechanism.
3Ease of manufacture
If end stops are incorporated in the ball screw nut, then assembly is simplified, but the nut structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The end stop is preliminarily formed as an integral part of the ball screw nut structure during manufacturing. This preliminary action eliminates the need for separate assembly steps to install end stops, as they are already in place to receive and position the springs and rolling elements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances the efficiency and ease of assembly by maintaining rolling elements within the nut, allowing linear translation while rotating the spindle, and resetting their position after load release, thus simplifying the conversion of rotational to linear movement without the need for additional fasteners or complex recirculation paths.
Implementation Method 1
a first spring disposed in the raceway and providing a biasing force against one end of the chain of rolling elements, and a second spring disposed in the raceway and providing a biasing force against another end of the chain of rolling elements
Data Source
AI summary
A ball screw includes a ball screw spindle, and a ball screw nut extending about the ball screw spindle. The ball screw nut has internal threading that corresponds with external threading of the ball screw spindle to define a raceway for rolling elements. The ball screw nut includes one or more bore holes extending from the exterior surface of the ball screw nut, and partially into the ball screw nut. The bore hole defines an end stop. A spring has one end that contacts the end stop, and another end that contacts one of the rolling elements.