To get the longest working life out of a linear bearing, keep it clean and well lubricated. This common-sense advice may sound easy enough to follow. Yet in the real world of round-the-clock,...
To move a cantilevered load, only the strongest slides will do. Not only must they support the load, but the motion must also be smooth and precise. These can be difficult criteria to meet for...
Designing high-speed automated material handling and pick and place systems that incorporate six-axis robots presents engineers with two challenges: enabling bidirectional robotic travel while also...
When you want a linear guide to move a heavy load in a demanding application, you usually have one choice: a heavy-duty profiled guide and its associated misalignment issues. Higher load...
The logistics industry has evolved to employ automated shuttle and automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) to move products in three-dimensional planes within distribution centers and...
As automation continues to transform manufacturing productivity, competitiveness often comes down to maintaining “lights out” processes and lowering engineering time and costs. While robotic...
When it comes to food manufacturing and beverage equipment, maintaining food safety is just as critical to a machine as its ability to meet demanding production requirements. Not only should you...
In the entertainment industry, a good stage production often depends on what happens behind the scenes. Sometimes the components that make up the rigging systems that safely and discreetly move...
When an automated industrial application calls for a rail system, designers often turn to steel rails and components for their durability. However, there are many heavy-duty use cases where linear...
Rollon customers often come to us for assistance with solving their complex application challenges. Recently a customer needed to integrate a linear actuator into a three-axis CNC router that would...
When it comes to the retail store environment, products don’t sell themselves. In order to maximize sales, you need attractive, functional display fixtures that present your goods front-and-center...
Builders of bagging and cartoning equipment, case erectors, packers and sealers, tray formers, palletizers, pallet dispensers and related machines often choose high-precision linear bearing guides....
As companies strive to move goods rapidly, accurately and efficiently, they’re breaking with conventional distribution methods and investing in automated storage and retrieval systems for their...
When a machine design calls for a motor-driven linear actuator, choosing between a ball screw or belt-driven unit will depend on how its characteristics align with your application’s goals. That...
In many applications, medium-precision guides are more cost-effective than the ever-popular profiled rail.
Rollon Telescopic Rail moves 2,500 pounds of cantilevered materials and machine to mold helicopter parts.
As more manufacturers automate their operations to improve productivity and competitiveness, different robotic systems have become available to perform a diversity of production tasks. Cartesian...
Aerospace manufacturers are increasingly turning to carbon fiber in their quest to make aircraft lighter and more fuel efficient. But conforming carbon fiber into complex parts is a difficult...
When vehicles are built to serve a distinct purpose, there’s an excellent chance that they’ll be outfitted with special components to perform some type of linear motion. Because specialty vehicles...
As robots become a mainstay in the manufacturing world, they are increasingly making room for cobots. Designed to work alongside humans, collaborative industrial robots (cobots) have become an...
Industrial applications that require telescoping motion often have operating conditions that can compromise ordinary telescoping guides. Whether it’s continuous use, heavy loads or harsh...
No one wants a linear bearing to fail prematurely. While many factors can threaten a bearing’s expected life, designers of industrial machines must especially guard against alignment errors between...
Rollon Corporation now manufactures linear actuators capable of providing a seventh axis of motion to anthropomorphic six-axis robotic arms with a curb weight of up to five-thousand pounds!...
There’s no disputing that automation technology has changed the face of industrial operations. Nowhere is this more evident than spot welding, assembly and material handling where six-axis...
Rollon linear and telescopic rails provide high-quality motion in many types of buildings and furniture. Inside the home, for instance, they provide smooth, precise motion for sliding kitchen...
Despite the performance improvement of control electronics and algorithms over the past decade or so to help mask deficiencies in linear actuator selection and application, it is still incumbent on...
Cartesian robots are a particularly attractive automation option for manufacturers with pick-and-place type processes. Their highly precise motion boosts production efficiency, making them a...
Large-scale manufacturers routinely automate processes to maximize efficiency and gain a competitive edge. Until recently, many of the automation technologies that large manufacturers enjoy through...
Designers sometimes try to cantilever a load in order to use a standard linear rail in unsupported areas. This approach may achieve a long load extension, but it comes at a price: bearing wear and...
When design engineers evaluate linear bearings, they always ask about performance attributes such as speed, load capacity and lifecycle. Then they want to know the price. It’s rare, however, that...
For some automation applications, it can be difficult to decide if a pneumatic or electric motor-driven actuator is best. Obviously, cost can be a big factor when choosing between the two, with...
Automation is changing how traditional distribution centers operate. But when it comes to automated technology, you might think about the robots, automated guide vehicles and pick-and-place...
One specialty of Youngblood Automation, a Michigan-based provider of industrial automation components, is building aluminum extrusion machine guarding and sliding guard fences. Although the...
For over thirty years, CMS Laser has provided laser drilling, cutting and welding capabilities for a range of applications. When one of its customers reported contamination-induced linear bearing...
In a recent application, a Rollon gantry robot was used in a pick and-place system that transports finished tire beads to automated carts at the end of a production line. Bartell Machinery Systems,...
When it comes to linear motion rails, a high hardness value is critical. Unfortunately, some rail manufacturing processes don’t impart sufficient hardness to the rails. If hardness doesn’t extend...
Many automated tasks across the automotive, electronics and consumer goods industries are accomplished by sophisticated, six-axis articulated arm robots designed to perform highly precise...
Contamination can be tough on your linear actuators. Airborne contaminants can work their way into crevices, causing premature wear and shortening your actuator’s life. Some solutions, like...
When it comes to linear guides, we’re beginning to see a shift towards lighter rails––not in terms of load capacity, but in terms of the weight of the material. Although this shift translates to...
From industrial automation to robotics, there is a rising demand for motion systems offering greater design simplicity. This trend is being driven by a lack of time and resources, rather than a...
Adding a seventh axis to your six-axis robotic system can be beneficial in a number of ways. Your work envelope is expanded, allowing the use of smaller, less-expensive robots. Parts can also be...
In many industrial applications, linear bearings can fail prematurely due to misalignment of the bearing rails and moving elements, inadequate lubrication of the bearing’s unsealed components or...
When linear bearing systems fail prematurely, the reason almost always involves an overlooked application error.
Deciding if it makes sense to apply a protective coating such as nickel to your linear motion components depends on several factors. Perhaps most important is the work environment your motion...
Profiled rail, also known as monorail or ball rail, is a tried and true linear guide system that incorporates small recirculating balls to satisfy tight positioning accuracy requirements. Often...
When choosing a linear actuator, it’s important to figure out which drive train is best for your application.
As you probably know, telescopic rails are an essential component for carrying high loads at full extension in applications such as industrial warehouses and medical imaging systems. At Rollon, we...
When sizing and selecting a linear actuator, you want to start by figuring out how much safety-stroke your application requires. Overlooking safety-stroke early on can lead to design flaws or rapid...
Tips for correctly specifying and sizing your actuator
Our Motion Box 3-axis Cartesian robot system moves a defined distance, with a defined load, in a defined amount of time.
When designing and configuring an automated warehouse, you want to keep the system as light and compact as possible. Depending on the size of your load, there are two common types of automated...
Designed for effective linear movement in a wide range of applications such as the loading and unloading systems of machine tools and long assembly lines, our compact telescopic actuator reduces...
Even if you start with a basic setup, gantry systems often require more than 100 hours of engineering activity, including specifying dozens of parts across many vendors. With countless failure...
Since actuators serve as the workhorse of so many applications, they must be reliable. When specifying a Cartesian robot system, the overall quality of your actuator is essential. And picking an...
Every linear application, from simple pick-and-place to circuit board printing, requires some level of precision. This concept, one of the most vital in the world of linear motion, is best...
Sometimes, design engineers need a new linear guide profile rail for shorter lead times, lower costs and better customer service. And while manufacturers may have similar interchangeable products,...
When looking for a robot, system integrators have a host of factors to consider—including load, speed, travel, orientation, available space, positional accuracy and cost. To meet all these...
Because they’re easier to set-up and less expensive than six-axis robots or SCARAs (selective compliance articulated robots arms), Cartesian robots are quickly becoming a more common option for...
Pactiv, one of the world’s largest producers of food packaging, recently found a good way to improve the productivity of its multi-line inspection system for detecting and rejecting misformed egg...
Off-the-shelf robots for injection molding parts removal tend to be more expensive and less flexible than those made in-house. For this reason, Stone Plastics & Manufacturing Inc. makes its own...
Deciding between a gantry and a robot for your application isn’t always as clear-cut as it may seem. To automate a simple, yet time-consuming and potentially dangerous task in its factory, a...
Pre-engineered system enables out-of-the-box functionality.
Rollon Corporation has announced the purchase of Hegra, a telescopic and linear guide manufacturer based in Germany. As a result Rollon’s customers worldwide will now have access to 84 additional...
Our telescopic bearings deliver high load capacity and rigidity for applications in harsh industrial environments. If your application requires one, there are some things you’ll want to consider...
Rollon’s SMART Series Delivers Additional Benefits For Machine Builders
On the surface, it may seem like choosing the right actuator for a given application is an easy task. In reality, however, much more goes into selecting a reliable actuator than you might think.
Rollon recently purchased Italian linear actuator and robotics supplier Tecno Center. With a high level of system design expertise, Tecno Center’s technology gives our integrated partners a greater...
A reliable, low-cost alternative to shop-built automation devices, our new 220 mm R-Smart linear actuator is ideal for large industrial gantries requiring long strokes and high load capacities.
Combining aspects of our proven Telescopic Rail and Light Rail technologies, our new LTH line of economical telescopic rails combines a high load capacity, resistance to bending and a light weight...
When you need machine components, you usually need them in a hurry to prevent downtime and other production issues. At Rollon, we produce about 75% of our linear guides and motion systems...
At this year's IMTS, Rollon's Bob Ward gave a presentation entitle: How to Specify & Size Electromechanical Linear Actuators.
Ideal for fast, long travel applications with high accuracy requirements, our new R- Plus System rack-and-pinion actuator provides consistent rigidity and high axial forces throughout its stroke.
Obtaining quality linear guides could take many weeks – or even months. Every day you are waiting for them to arrive is a day you aren’t shipping your machine.
Engineers are always trying to increase productivity from manufacturing lines. Often times they turn to pricey robots and large pieces of capital equipment for palletizing in-process or finished...
The task of selecting, sizing and applying linear actuators involves many variables, from stroke length and duty cycle to precision and accuracy requirements.
When airline passengers travel in coach class, expectations are fairly low with regard to comfort. For example, most seats only offer two positions, straight for takeoff and landing, and a slight...
Rollon Corporation is pleased to announce the latest addition in its line-up of technical tools and services to help customers more quickly access the information they need in developing their...
Robust and compact, halfway between a heavy-duty Telescopic Rail and a Light Rail, the new series is ideal for railway and special vehicle applications.
What does a design engineer or system integrator need to know when selecting actuators for heavy-duty packaging operations?
Selecting the right actuator for use in any manufacturing operation involves a host of application-specific variables, including aspects such as the required stroke length, load capacity,...
Rollon’s ONE Series of belt-driven linear units, part of its new ActuatorLINE series, meet the needs of clean room and vacuum applications in demanding semiconductor, pharmaceutical, biomedical,...
Rollon’s ECO Series of linear units, part of the company’s new family of ActuatorLINE products, offer designers a range of stroke lengths, load capacities and shuttling speeds to meet a variety of...
In aircraft seating, every ounce counts. And as first and business seats grow more complex, it’s increasingly difficult to meet weight targets. Our new DE Series telescopic rails can help.
When engineers design motion control systems, they sometimes commit a costly error known as actuator overkill. As its name suggests, this error involves the selection of actuators whose precision,...
Linear motion applications often involve heavy-duty, multi-axis manipulation of heavy loads at high speeds. A prime example would be palletizing equipment, but many applications have similarly...
Setting up a dynamic, high-speed linear motion system is challenging enough. Flip it 90° to go vertical, and things get even trickier. In theory, linear actuators should work in any orientation....
Making its official debut at the IMTS Show in September, the ELM series of linear actuators is the first member of our new family of ActuatorLINE products. Tested and proven in the European market,...
From semiconductor manufacturing to machine tools, highly precise linear motion determines the success of many demanding applications. To address today’s needs for precise and accurate motion...
Many an engineering hour has been spent cobbling together motion systems from individual components that may not have been designed or sized to work together properly. Our own engineers and our...
All of the engineers and technicians here at Rollon USA are big believers in continuous improvement. So when we had the opportunity to move to a superior manufacturing facility this year, we jumped...
Lay flat seats make the skies friendlier with some help from the right linear guides
If you’ve been lucky enough to fly business or first class on an overseas trip, you may have noticed just how complex the seats have become from a linear motion standpoint. The most advanced seats...
To keep the trains running on time, it makes sense to pay attention to the linear guides used throughout today’s railroad and mass transit cars.
Shower Doors Unlimited has carved out a reputation among the architectural and design community for producing unique shower enclosures utilizing creative engineering design and high-end components.
Arcoma, one of the world’s leading providers of automatic x-ray equipment, faced the challenge of redesigning one of its flagship products, the Arcoma mobile imaging table, because new applications...
With years of experience in the declining automotive marketplace, SAS Automation in Xenia, OH, did plenty of due diligence before venturing into the consumer products palletizing market.
Medical imaging systems contain so many high-tech electronic elements that it’s all too easy to overlook the mechanical components that contribute to the success or failure of these systems in the...
With their round-the-clock operating schedules and demanding uptime requirements, the palletizing systems used in packaging plants can challenge the reliability of even the best linear motion...
A manufacturer of ready-to-mount automotive carpeting discovered that for every inch that they can stretch the carpet; the plant could save $100,000 per year in raw materials costs.
Special Vehicles Company (SPEVCO) of Pfafftown, NC, is regarded as the innovative problem solver in the specialty vehicle industry.
Automated laser engraving systems make plain glass more beautiful, but not without some ugly linear motion challenges.
The makers of CNC machine tools are not known for skimping on their motion control components, especially those related to spindle movements.
As economies around the globe continue to confront higher energy prices and population density in large urban centers, the worldwide rail industry is poised for steady expansion and ongoing...
When a major manufacturer of stone fascias for upscale homes needed to transfer its 300lb mold forms into a spray booth for release coating, they approached TKF Conveyors.
Photography enthusiasts worldwide are familiar with the name of B&H Photo located at 34th Street and Ninth Avenue in New York.
When linear bearing systems fail prematurely, the reason almost always involves an overlooked application error.
For a case in point, consider what’s involved when switching from a ball-rail linear guide to Rollon’s Compact Rail.
In all too many applications, engineers still pick linear guides based on familiarity rather than true accuracy, load and size requirements. And all too often, the most familiar linear guides are...
Not all linear guides are created equal when it comes to delivery times. The highest-precision classes of linear guides usually have dramatically longer lead times, especially at lengths beyond...
Many industrial products experience supply crunches now and again. Linear guides are a prime example. Anyone who has ordered these crucial motion components over the years knows that delivery times...
Special Vehicles Company (SPEVCO), based in Pfafftown, NC, has carved out a reputation for itself as a highly innovative problem solver in the specialty vehicle industry.