Integrated End Recirculator Structure for Compact Ball Screws
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ball screw mechanisms with end recirculators require significant axial space due to separate areas for ball guidance and grease retention, limiting their application in space-optimized designs.
Innovation Solution
A compact recirculator design with an annular body and guide structure that integrates bearing and guidance functions, allowing for a seamless ball recirculation path and efficient grease retention, manufactured as a single piece using plastics or metals, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate areas are used for ball guidance and grease retention in end recirculators, then ball guidance and grease retention functions are achieved, but axial space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the ball guidance function and grease retention function into a single integrated end recirculator structure. The bearing surface is positioned within the recirculator body to provide ball guidance, while the same structure simultaneously retains grease in the internal cavity, eliminating the need for separate axially spaced areas for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The end recirculator is designed as a multi-functional component that performs multiple tasks: guiding balls along the recirculation trajectory, retaining grease within its cavity, and providing structural support. This universal design allows a single component to fulfill multiple roles that would traditionally require separate elements.
2Length of moving object
If a compact recirculator design is implemented, then axial space requirement is reduced, but manufacturing complexity may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The recirculator is designed with distinct functional zones within a compact form: a bearing surface area for ball guidance, a guide structure for trajectory control, and an internal cavity for grease retention. This segmentation of functions within a unified structure allows compactness while maintaining manufacturability through clear functional separation.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
Recirculator (30) for a nut (12) of a ball screw mechanism (1), comprising an annular body (32) having a reference axis (300) intended to be aligned with a helix axis of the nut (12), the annular body (32) comprising a bearing surface (36) configured to bear against a nut (12) of the ball screw mechanism (1) in a bearing direction having an axial component parallel to the reference axis (300), and a guide structure (34) configured to guide balls in a recirculation path opening at a first guide end (62) into a recirculation channel of the nut (12) and at a second guide end (72) onto a raceway (116) defined by a thread of the nut (12), characterized in that the bearing surface (36) is at least partially located in a cutting plane (130) cutting the recirculation trajectory and perpendicular to the reference axis (300).