When design engineers have fully defined the requirements of a linear motion application in terms of stroke length, speed, force, precision, and repeatability, the next question to answer is:
Does an off-the-shelf linear guide (or a stocked linear guide from a catalog) fully meet the application’s needs?
Compared with custom components, off-the-shelf linear guides offer the advantages of fast delivery and low cost. It’s no wonder that most linear motion designs actually adopt off-the-shelf linear carriages from various component and system suppliers.
But what about designs for which there is no suitable off-the-shelf linear guide? If relying on stocked products, such designs may have parameters that could require unacceptable compromises...
These parameters may include non-traditional driving methods, unusually long strokes, the need to withstand overturning loads and torques, as well as high force, load, and speed requirements. In other cases, retrofitting existing machine designs can significantly complicate the integration of linear guides. Any such parameter that requires modifications to off-the-shelf linear guides will lead to an increase in actual costs—sometimes to an unacceptable extent.
